Steven Riddle: June 2004 Archives

In correspondence with a friend, my conscience was inadvertantly stung and I wrote this entry rapidly in response. He could not know that his reply would activate my own extraordinary frustration and guilt over this issue (I know that I don't do all that really does lie within my power to do), nevertheless, this may sound a bit more bitter and harsh than I normally do. If so, please forgive me, but I think this is an issue of enormous importance to the idea of Catholic Justice.

Here's a place to track how we can maintain all those low-low prices we find in stores.

It is this monstrous regime that we grant "most favored nation status" because it behooves us to farm out work in this direction. While there, be sure to check out other atrocities such as reports (I don't know how well confirmed) that United Nations Population Funds supporting coerced abortions. (Has nothing whatsoever to do with Lao-gai, but the site reports on everything from coerced abortions to slave labor and Death Camps in North Korea.)

Those of us who have grave reservations about the wisdom of internationalization have merely to look this far before finding a stinking cesspool. And we don't even begin to know how many businesses are working with North Korea or other oppressive states.

Encouraging the economic growth of underdeveloped countries is a wonderful business commitment that needs to be very carefully undertaken and monitored. Unfortunately, too often, the government and the citizenry are not too keen to look beneath the hood. And if this is what is there, more often than not, they have good reason.

Next time you shop at a Wal-Mart, a Target, or almost any major chain, look to see how much of what is there is made in China. It will appall you (I hope) and perhaps sting you into action. Next time you think about buying Chinese, visit this site and remember Cardinal Kung and others of his ilk who suffer under this most favored regime.

from Romans 14:

1: As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions.
2: One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables.
3: Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him.
4: Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand.

Now, this would seem the perfect opportunity to jump back on my soapbox of a few days ago and talk about judging, particularly with verses later in the letter; but, I promise you, that is NOT the point of this entry--at least not in essence. While it will be about judging, I will not contend as I did the other day.

One of the problems we often face in Catholicism is strong difference of opinion on matters where there is liberty. For example, I have yet to see a liturgical dance in North America that I thought anything less than abhorrent and distracting. However, except for provisions in liturgical documents that I do not claim to know or understand, I see nothing wrong in theory with liturgical dance. I recall at the canonization of Juan Diego half of St. Blogs went apoplectic over the fact that the Holy Father allowed liturgical dance as part of the celebration. I had no opinion on the matter whatsoever, assuming that the Holy Father knew what he was doing and why. So here is a place where we can disagree amicably over our preferences and interpret the documents to come to a correct understanding of Church teaching on the matter.

On the discipline of an unmarried Priesthood--I am largely indifferent to the matter. I know of married Catholic Priests (usually converts whose faculties have been recognized, restored, or whatever the term one uses for this procedure).They have made perfectly fine priests. Just as with deacons, the wives must consent to this and understand the nature of the obligation--but many wives live similarly stressed lives for different or lesser rewards. I understand that it is a long and valued tradition of the church and that there are certain advantages. But if the Pope were to declare tomorrow that married men would be eligible for the priesthood, I wouldn't bat an eyelash. And in fact, I would be praying hard to hear what the Lord had to say to me in the matter. As that is not the present discipline, I choose not to worry about it.

The issue of female priests has been settled for me. I do not fully understand all the arguments for the fact that it may not be so settled as I think--they are subtle and turn on points of canon law and other issues I do not understand, and frankly don't much care about. But, at the same time, I don't look down upon those who think there should be female priests. I think they may be incorrect, but often they have their hearts in the right place--so it seems to me.

As brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important to pick our battles very carefully. We should not be judging one another on doubtful issues. For example, everyone knows by now that I make a very close approach to pacifism, if I am not actually a pacifist. A verse a bit later in the chapter addresses this directly.

22: The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves.
23: But he who has doubts is condemned, if he eats, because he does not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

In other words, even if I acknowledge the teaching of the Church on just war, were I to participate in any action of a war, I would be condemned by my own conscience if not by the Church. Thus, conscience may add to what the Church teaches, but it is never free to take from it. That is, the conscience must be conformable to the teaching of the church, not vice versa.

I have spent much time thinking about how one should respond to "Catholics for Kerry" and other such enterprises. My conclusion is that outright error should be corrected, healthy debate should be pursued to determine the truth of the matter of what the Church teaches, but that no Catholic has the right, duty, or responsibility to accuse another of being less than Catholic for his or her stand on this issue. I personally find some amazing flaws in the reasoning used to support Mr. Kerry's candidacy, some of which may be culpable, but most of which are simply bad reasoning, or reasoning based on false premises. I will not question Bishops who refuse to extend communion to Mr. Kerry--this is an extremely important part of the teaching mission of the Church. By refusing communion they say not that they are ousting Mr. Kerry, but that he has chosen to remove himself from our communion. So too with others of different communions who are not allowed to partake of our Eucharist. They may not have chosen this individually, but it has been chosen for them historically.

The meaning of Romans for me is that I need to think very carefully about how I look at others' positions on issues. For example, a "Catholic for Choice" may be a very good Catholic in all other dimensions, but has a woefully warped and misinformed conscience on this one matter. Too often, we are ready to deep-six such people as beyond the reach of redemption. This passage from Romans is a slap in the face to those who would do so. "How dare you judge between servant and master." The person is in error, but they have the ability to be moved to the correct view and should never be treated as "sub-Catholic." Neither should their authentically anti-Catholic teaching be allowed to stand unassailed. Our duty is to welcome the misinformed and to correct all his or her error. That may be one of the hardest things in the world.

And strangely, it is so much more difficult with matters that are significantly less serious. Think about how riled some people become when someone dares to suggest that there might be a married priesthood and it might help resolve the vocation crisis. (I'm exceedingly dubious that it would have had any effect whatsoever on the scandals of recent years.) There are good reasons for opposing a married priesthood and those cases may be made. But there is nothing in Catholic Doctrine that requires an unmarried priesthood. So too with a great many issues. If we simply allow people the freedom they have been given under God to make these choices in dubious matters and come together in a more certain unity on the issues that really count--for example abortion and euthanasia (about which there can be no doubt as the Church teaching is abundantly clear and straightforward). Or more importantly in the truth of Jesus Christ, crucified, died, buried, descended to Hell, resurrected, and Ascended to heaven as our Lord, Savior, and the center of our lives. These are the issues that matter. We must correct all error along the way, but the error we correct should be real error and not merely difference of opinion.

Recommendation: Every person in St. Blogsland, without exception, and each and every member of your family should have and read this book over and over and over again. It is undoubtedly one of the most persuasive, moving, interesting, well-considered, accurate, and helpful books I have ever read on the subject of using the Bible as subject matter for prayer. (And considering how many such I have read, this is quite an accolade.)

Stinissen's book is one of the very finest on the subject I have read. Every line is a gem. There are surprises and sudden revelations at nearly every turn. The writing is gloriously succinct (the entire book is only 120 pages long), and yet filled with helpful insights.

The last chapter of the book alone should be reprinted in a handy pocket size and carried in the shirt pocket or purse of every Catholic who is at all serious about the Christian vocation and the desire to see God and do God's will. This chapter--"On Regular Bible Reading"--is not only the same old same old--trying to make you feel guilty about how infrequently you actually peruse the divine word, but it is practical guidebook about how to pray using Bible passages.

I have taken a long time to read the entire book. I dwelt on sentences and passages that spoke volumes. When I finished the last chapter, I picked up my Bible and with resolution turned to the shorter Pauline Epistles. And then something spoke to me and said, "No, turn back." So I did--to the letter of Romans. The understanding of that readins I shall try to share later in the day.

In six short chapters, Stinissen teaches the importance of Bible reading, the history, the history of interpretation, ways of understanding the bible, ways of studying the Bible, and finally, ways of using the Bible to really speak to God. Each chapter is a model of clarity and solid teaching and most give abundant examples of the theoretical issues (few in number) introduced in the text.

As this was a Liguori text, and I have in the past been "burned" by some books from the press, I kept waiting for the moment when I would say, "Ah, so that is the agenda." If there is an agenda other than that of the Church herself, I failed to detect it.

I was, in short, blessed by reading this book, as you will be as well. For further references, comments, and excerpts from this magnificent book, take a look here and enjoy. But above all else, buy, read, and use the book to improve your prayer life and your contact and understanding of the Bible.

When asking a favor of some person of importance would anyone be so ill-mannered and thoughtless as not first to consider how best to address him in order to make a good impression and give him no cause for offense? Sure he would think over his petition carefully and his reason for making it, especially if it were something specific and important as our good Jesus tells us our petitions should be. It seems to me that this point deserves serious attention. My Lord, could you not have included all in one word saying, "Father, give us whatever is good for us?" After all, to one who undertands everything so perfectly, what need is there to say more? from The Way of Perfection by La Madre (St. Teresa of Avila, virgin and Doctor of the Church)

Reports

TSO reports that his friend Ham has a consulting job that may develop into something permanent. Please pray that Ham and the job are a good fit and that good comes of this.

Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan

A special request from two gentleman battling particularly troublesome and besetting sins for grace and help as they continue forward.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing

It appears that I am the light side of Mr. Disputations. (Although, having seen some of his outcomes in the past, I suspect he knows too much for the quiz makers and tailors his results. Here, flaky and harebrained as it may be, unadulterated and pure are my own results:

You are an SECF--Sober Emotional Constructive Follower. This makes you a hippie. You are passionate about your causes and steadfast in your commitments. Once you've made up your mind, no one can convince you otherwise. Your politics are left-leaning, and your lifestyle choices decidedly temperate and chaste.

You do tremendous work when focused, but usually you operate somewhat distracted. You blow hot and cold, and while you normally endeavor on the side of goodness and truth, you have a massive mean streak which is not to be taken lightly. You don't get mad, you get even.

Please don't get even with this web site.

If you really need to know visit this place.

Contra T.S.O.'s sly probe into my psyche I am not succumbing to ecumenicalism (actually I probably succumbed years ago) but rather to a penchant for reading books about spirituality based on the Bible written by persons named Wilfrid. And so, the next offering in this Wilfridfest (or is it the first--I know it isn't the first by this Wilfrid--oh well, give it a rest.)

from Nourished by the Word: Reading the Bible Contemplatively
Wilfrid Stinissen, O.Carm

When we let the "I" of the Psalms be widened to a universal "I," to the "I" of all human beings, we'll be less shocked over the psalms of revenge. When we learn to put ourselves in the situation of others, and also in the situation of those who are tortured and humiliated in their human worth, and when we talk to God on their behalf, it is not so strange that we protest vehemently. There is in every person a sound feeling for justice, an insight about the need to punish evil ones who have destroyed order in order that order be restored. The teachings about purgatory and hell are the Christian confirmation of this inherent insight, and show that the protest against injustice and opppression exists within God himself.

If I prayed for revenge for the violence and injustice to which I personally have been exposed, my prayer perhaps would not be entirely blameless. Jesus teaches us that we should not hit back when someone hits us. But he has not forbidden us to defend fellow human beings who have experienced violence; on the contrary, he wants us to be prepared to give our life for theirs. Since the "I" in the Pslams is not only mine personally but humanity's both my prayer and my prayer for retribution are acts of love: I protest against the evil to which my brother or sister have been subjected and desire that justice will be done. . . .

The universal range of the Psalms makes it also an ecumenical prayer book. No person can remain unmoved by it. In fact, it is used in all Christian denominations, and Christendom had it in common with Israel. Nothing points so plainly and so concretely to our Old Testament roots and our ties with our elder brothers and sisters from Israel than just this, that we pray to God with the same words. All Christians form, together with the Jews, one great choir whose common song in and of itself is, whether one is aware of it or not, a prayer for unity.

I can't comment on the accuracy of this passage, but it certainly "feels" right with respect to the tenor of these difficult psalms. Perhaps a new approach in praying them.

Of the inklings, Charles Williams is often the one least known, least recognized. His works are thorny and require an even greater-than-usual susepension of disbelief. Sometimes his narratives amount to nothing more than very thinly veiled symbolic actions. And yet, there are moments in the prose and in the stories that are truly transcendant and more than make up for the various flaws one could find. I offer one of those moments in the excerpt below.

from All Hallow's Eve
Charles Williams

He felt, as he gazed, more like a wraith than a man; against her vigour of existence he hung like a ghost, and was fixed by it.—He did not then remember the past hour in Jonathan's room, nor the tomb-like image of Lady Wallingford. Had he done so, he would have felt Lester's to be as much stronger than that woman's as hers had seemed stronger than his own. Lester was not smiling any recognition; the recognition was in her stillness. The passionate mouth was serious and the eyes deep with wonder and knowledge: of him? certainly of him. He thought almost he saw her suspire with a relief beyond joy. Never, never again would he neglect. The broken oaths renewed themselves in him. One hand of hers was raised and still almost as if it rested on some other arm, but the other had flown to her breast where it lay as if in some way it held him there. They made, for those few seconds, no movement, but their stillness was natural and not strange; it was not because she was a ghost but because she was she that he could not stir. This was their thousandth meeting, but yet more their first, a new first and yet the only first. More stable than rock, more transient in herself than rivers, more distant-bright than stars, more comfortable than happy sleep, more pleasant than wind, more dangerous than fire-all known things similes of her; and beyond all known things the unknown power of her. He could perhaps in a little have spoken; but before he could, she had passed. She left with him precisely the sensation of seeing her go on; past him? no; up the by-way? no; but it was not disappearance or vanishing, for she had gone, as a hundred times she had, on her proper occasions, gone, kissing, laughing, waving. Now she neither kissed nor laughed nor waved, but that which was in all three lingered with him as he saw she was no longer there.

Such a paean to married loved, such an epithalamion is truly worthy of some of our attention, because it strikes me that the man knows whereof he speaks.

If you'd like to experience more of All Hallow's Eve, you can find it online here

Both apostles share the same feast day, for these two were one; and even though they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first and Paul followed. And so we celebrate this day made holy for us by the apostles' blood. Let us embrace what they believed, their life, their labors, their sufferings, their preaching, and their confession of faith. from a Sermon by St. Augustine, Bishop.

Reports

TSO reports that his friend Ham has a consulting job that may develop into something permanent. Please pray that Ham and the job are a good fit and that good comes of this.

Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan

A special request from two gentleman battling particularly troublesome and besetting sins for grace and help as they continue forward.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing

Active:

All Hallow's Eve Charles Williams--Second or third venture through--by far and away the best of Williams's works and very highly recommended.

The Crucible of Creation Simon Conway Morris--Toss aside your Wonderful Life and idiosyncratic glance at the Burgess shale by the scientist best known for his agenda and step into the world of one of the people who was instrumental in the study of and understanding of the Burgess Shale fauna. It also helps that he is a Christian so you don't feel the grate of the Marxist contingency system pressing down upon you. If you're interested in the Burgess Shale, this is the (piopular) book to read about it.

St. Benedict and St. Thérèse: The Little Rule and the Little Way Dwight Longnenecker--The author is, I believe, on one of the team blogs, though I don't remember which one. The book is splendid. It's one of those I am reading very slowly.

The Time Traveler's Wife Forget the author, but this is for a book group.

Seeking Spiritual Growth through the Bible Wilfrid J. Harrington, O.P. This is one I may excerpt in the next couple of days.

Long-Term

Christian Perfection and Contemplation Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange O.P.

Science of the Cross St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Utopia Lincoln Child

The Dust of Eden Thomas Sullivan

And a series of mysteries by Bruce Alexander.

Men will therefore see God if they are to live, through the vision of God they will become immortal and attain to God himself. As I have said, this was shown in symbols by the prophets: God will be seen by mean who bear his Spirit and are always waiting for his coming. As Moses said in the Book of Deuteronomy: On that day we shall see, for God will speak to man, and man will live. --from The Treatise Against Heresies--St. Irenaeus

Reports

TSO reports that his friend Ham has a consulting job that may develop into something permanent. Please pray that Ham and the job are a good fit and that good comes of this.

Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan

For J.H., newly named regional coordinator for the East Central Florida Carmelites, that she may rise to the task and help to renew, refresh, and revive the order here.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing

"He who sets hand to the plow and looks back is not worthy of the kingdom. . ."

This line stuck with me all through the afternoon. I heard it in Mass and I kept hearing it. And I realized that one of my great accomplishments in life has been to do contour plowing on perfectly flat surfaces. When I look back over my Christian life it is a history of setting hand to plow and looking back. Don't know if I'm waiting for an audience, encouraging others ito join me in the thrilling life of plowing the fields, or just thinking--"It's awful hot out here, and back at the clubhouse I could have a tall iced-tea with mint, or lemonade--you know there's really no need to subject yourself to all this fuss and sun. After all there's others to do the work, and they're far better at it."

Each person probably has different excuses--"I am not worthy." "I am afraid." "I'm bored." "I don't want a menial job." You name it, there are probably a billion reason not to set hand to plow and really only one to start--it is our call in life as Christians. In order to be Christians, in order to serve God, we must do so without reservations.

I think Jesus was well aware that there were likely to be many false starts and many abortive attempts. And so He warned us--don't try this at home with Professional supervision. That is to say, we'll get no where on our own and He knew that. So, with all good will, we need to try once again, and let prayer pull the plow with our eyes firmly set on Him. This done, all other things will fall into their rightful place.

Simon Conway Morris is a scientist who is also a Christian and who has done a tremendoua amount of work on the Burgess Shale--a fauna explored by Stephen Jay Gould (largely with his skewed marxist contingency lens) in Wonderful Life In this book, Conway addresses Gould directly and seeks to refute much of Gould's contention regarding contingency. But I'm just quoting a passage that appealed to me as I was sitting at the car dealership.

from The Crucible of Creation
Simon Conway Morris

Nobody knows the precise total of species that presently inhabit the Earth, nor how many once existed but are now extinct. There could quite easily be twenty million species alive today, and the number of extinct species must run into the hundreds of millions, if not the billions. Within this vast plenitude it is perhaps rather surprising that there is only one, unique species that can understand a single word of this book. This species, which is of course ourselves, is uniquely pirivileged: not only can we understand something of our origins, but we are the first animals ever to have looked at the stars and seen anything more than distant pin-pricks of light.

Perhaps later--this evening, tomorrow, or next week, I'll get into the material that is likely to ruffle a few feathers--or perhaps not. I'm often surprised at the reaction to things here at St. Blogs. And these surprises are nearly always gratifying.

Such is the wonderful hope held out by the beatitudes. As we have seen, the condition for seeing God is purity of heart, and now once more my mind is in confusion, as from an attack of giddiness, wondering if purity of heart is comething impossible, something beyond the cpacity of human nature. If the vision of God is dependant on purity of heart, and if Moses and Paul did not attain this vision--they state that neither they nor anyone else can see God--then the promise of the beatitiude spoken by the Word seems to be something impossbile of realization. . . .

Hence it can be said that those who with Paul teach the that vision of God is beyond our powers are right in what they say, and that the voice of the Lord does not contradict them when he promises that the pure in heart will see God. From a Homily of St. Gregory of Nyssa

Reports

TSO reports that his friend Ham has a consulting job that may develop into something permanent. Please pray that Ham and the job are a good fit and that good comes of this.

Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan

For J.H., newly named regional coordinator for the East Central Florida Carmelites, that she may rise to the task and help to renew, refresh, and revive the order here.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing

Late start today. Came in and saw something like 20 new commentes, eighteen of which (fortunately) turned out to be spam.

I will eventually respond to other comments on the posts below, but must get to prayers and a little passage from S. Conway Morris I wanted to post, so my apologies if I am not swift to answer.

From one of the mailing lists I am blessed to participate in.

from "The Art of Dying Well"
St. Robert Bellarmine

To live well, thus to die well, one has to pray well. "Ask and it shall be
given to you. Everyone who asks receive," on condition that one prays well.
"You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss."

Those who pray well for the gift of living well certainly will receive it,
and those who ask well to die well will without doubt receive it. Let us
learn to pray well that we may live well and die well.

We must pray with faith: "Let us ask Him with faith." This faith should not
be understood that we believe with certitude that God will do what we ask.
This would be false faith and we shall receive nothing at all. Faith is
believing that God is able, knows and ready to do what we ask, if it is
fitting for Him to give and expedient for us to receive what we ask for.

Thus Christ asked the blind man: "Do you believe that I can do this to
you?" David prayed with faith when he said: "Who knows whether the Lord may
not give him to me." And God did not give him. Certainly Paul prayed with
faith when he said: "Remove the thorn from my flesh." And he did not get
it.

We must pray with hope and trust. Though through faith we should not hold
with certitude that God will grant us what we ask for, through hope and
trust we cling to the certitude that God might just really grant us what we
ask for; "Let us draw near the throne of His grace." Trust is born of
perfect faith: "Whoever says to this mountain, arise...and does not waver
in his heart, but believes that whatever he says will be done, it shall be
done for him."

A correspondent very graciously sent me a note with regard to yestereve's post of the excerpt from the biography of Washington. This lit a fire that is always at least slumbering under a pile of ash, and I thought I would share the response. There is nothing particularly profound or informative, but merely some surface impressions.

There was a time at which I believed all of the revisionist "stuff" about him [George Washington]--an incompetent leader, a cold and distant unfriendly man, a dullard. But as I have come to know him better (largely through trips to his house when I return to my "native land" as I call it, and through reading some of his own writing, I realize that were people to judge me by demeanor (which, of course they do all the time) I would be set with the same labels, and yet, I have to confess a certain amount of confusion about this. I am not deliberately cold nor distant, but someone who does not know me well will often discribe me as aloof and terrifying. (You can't even begin to imagine how funny this is without having seen me--I'm about as terrifying as a gerbil.) So I have felt a certain kinship in judgment.

Also, I find that as learn more about these Founding Fathers, while I still respect all for their sacrifice and commitment, I fine myself liking some better than others. I used to profoundly admire Jefferson, and as I study more, I find much less to like, while still a great deal to admire. I used not to care much for John Adams, but as I learn more, I realize that in some ways, he is a hero to me. The tender and caring relationship with Abagail; his ability to finally resume the friendship so long broken with Jefferson, his intergrity (he defended those accused in the Boston Massacre) and his commitment to the cause of liberty. Each of the fathers speaks to me a little differently as I learn more about them. And when I suspend judging them, I learn so much more from them.

Such is the topic, as I have presented it, for our inguiry and discussion. But as I said before, if I lack either the time or the ability to study the implications of so profound a mystery, he who speaks within you even when I am not here will teach you better; it is he whom you contemplate with devotion, whom you have welcomed into your hearts, whose temples you have become. From a Sermon by St. Augustine commemorating this Solemnity.

Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan

For J.H., newly named regional coordinator for the East Central Florida Carmelites, that she may rise to the task and help to renew, refresh, and revive the order here.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing

I cannot speak to the accuracy of the following account as I haven't read enough about Washington to verfiy it; however, it is the kind of thing I rather hope is true.

from George Washington: A Biography
Henry Cabot Lodge

He bore the suffering, which must have been intense, with his usual calm self-control, but as the afternoon wore on the keen distress and the difficulty of breathing made him restless. From time to time Mr. Lear tried to raise him and make his position easier. The General said, “I fear I fatigue you too much;” and again, on being assured to the contrary, “Well, it is a debt we must pay to each other, and I hope when you want aid of this kind you will find it.” He was courteous and thoughtful of others to the last, and told his servant, who had been standing all day in attendance upon him, to sit down.

This is the man reviled and maligned by Jefferson and torn apart by modern-day revisionists, truly one of the great admirable men of his time and in our history. We are ennobled even by the legends that surround him.

I read the comments of those who defend judgment, and I realize that perhaps I did not include enough of what was said to continue the point--or perhaps we overlook these statements out of convenience.

Here it is then:

Matthew 7:1-5 NAB

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,'
while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."

It seems to me that before I might say anything about the sin of another, I should mind my own sin. That is to say, my own is enough and more than enough to keep me occupied, what am I doing worrying about the sins or lack thereof of others.

It strikes me that those who defend the duty and necessity of judging the sin of others must address this great admonition. How can we begin to judge the state of others when there is so much remaining in our own lives that is so sinful.

I think one of the reasons Jesus calls us to tend to the beam in our own eye is that when one turns ones head with a beam protruding from one's eye, one is likely to smack one's brother upside the head with that beam to the detriment of both parties.

When one undergoes the process of purification, one is given a new perspective on all of these things--perhaps a discernment that is supernatural. One is also given the gifts and the grace to handle the sin of others in ways that do not demean and denigrate.

By this I mean to say that I know that I am not in the position to begin judging others as regards to sin. I cannot make that judgment for others, but I would suggest that the need to make these judgments might suggest something about our suitability for doing so.

[speaking of Jonathan]

Whose love, whose favor, whose abiding friendship would not be corrupted, weakened and destroyed by such an utterance? But in his great love, this young man kept faith with his friend. He wa steadfast in the face of threats, unmoed by insults; forgetting renown, he though only of service. He spurned a kingdom for the sake of friendship. You, he said, will be king, and I will be second to you.

This is what truly perfect, stable and lasting friendship is, a tie that envy cannot spoil, nor suspicious weaken, nor ambition destroy. A friendship so tempted yielded not an inch, was buffeted but did not collapse. In the face of so many insults it remained unshaken. Go, therefore and do likewise.--from a Treatise on Spiritual Friendship--St. Aelred of Rivaulx

Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan

For J.H., newly named regional coordinator for the East Central Florida Carmelites, that she may rise to the task and help to renew, refresh, and revive the order here.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing

I don't normally reprint things like this; however, this one touched me on a great many levels. Samuel recently had his first piano recital at which he played "Twinkle, Twinkle little Star." At his first dance recital, we witnessed a little girl who in the midst of all the dancing succumbed to stage fright and was utterly unable to move on the stage. (Whereas Samuel himself started off in what I consider to be one of the most terrifying situations possible for the very young. He started the routine for his group utterly alone onstage for about twenty seconds. And he had to end it by telling the little girls in the back row what to do. (Everyone was EXTREMELY amused.) So I also hope this touches you all.

Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took the boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted an old friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her.

Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "NO ADMITTANCE."

When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother
returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." At that moment, the great piano maestro made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child, and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed what could have been a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was so mesmerized that they couldn't recall what else the great maestro played. Only the classic "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

Perhaps that's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is
hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't always gracefully flowing music. However, with the hand of the Master, our life's work can truly be beautiful.

Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You may hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." May you feel His arms around you and know that His hands are there helping you turn your feeble attempts into true masterpieces. Remember, God doesn't seem to call the equipped; rather, He equips the 'called.' Life is more accurately measured by the lives you touch than by the things you acquire.

So touch someone, and pass this little message along. May God bless You and be with you always. ...and may each of you who reads this story more clearly see the "hand of Master" weaving each of His chosen hues into the tapestry of your lives.

The man who slanders his neighbor in secret
I will bring to silence.
The man of proud looks and haughty heart
I will never endure. (Psalm 101-from Morning Prayer)

This may be one of the most difficult passages in the entire gospel. As thinking, rational beings, we are built to judge, discern, test, and plumb the depths. Part of the burden of rationality is the necessity of judgment. If this is so, why would Jesus tell us not to use part of our in-born faculty.

I think Jesus has no intention of telling us never to judge anything. Rather, we are never to judge anyone. How does this work in practice? Let me tell you how I try to instruct Samuel in words what this means, and what I am doing in actions to actually try to live it. When Samuel comes home from school and reports on a classmate whom we shall call Tamar, he often says something like, "Tamar was bad today." My response to him is that God created Tamar. Nothing God creates is bad. (I know, there's a loophole there, but I'm talking to a six-year old.) He usually responds "But she made the teacher cry." Or some other report of Tamar's misbehavior. Always I respond, "Then Tamar did some bad things, but that does not make her a bad person." Usually I'll go on to say something about Tamar's family life that tends to precipitate these kinds of problems in a classroom, "Tamar is a very unhappy girl and she chooses to do bad things because they help her feel better when she gets attention. What do you think we should do about that." After the usual panoply of answers which includes, "Call Spiderman," "Mail her to her grandmother so she won't bother the class any more," and others, he usually comes around to, "Maybe we could pray for her and Jesus will make her be better." Theologically perhaps a little totalitarian, but basically on target. So we pray for Tamar.

So what has this to do with operations in the real world? Every person carries within them (or is, depending upon how you view these things) an image of Christ which is indelible no matter how much muck is heaped upon it. No person is intrinsically evil; although I will readily grant that there are some who are so seduced by evil that finding the image of Christ is nearly impossible. However, we start with this premise. From it, we must derive that all persons are capable of redemption. These two together suggest that when we must judge, we should direct our judgment not at the person, "You moron!" (Or worse things as we are driving to work), but at the action. This is incredibly important for me as we are raising a young, impressionable child. I am not allowed to give vent to these judgments (Praise God!), because no matter what my words say, my actions tell Samuel the direction he will take in life. If I spend all of my time judging others in this way, he will do so as well. So, what I do instead (because I still must give vent to my frustration) is that I say, "That person made a very bad choice." Samuel will often ask why and I will explain that in turning left out of the right hand lane across four lanes of traffic endangers not only the person in the car but all of the people who are coming at him. When Samuel himself does not meet my expectations, I say that I am disappointed in how he has chosen to conduct himself. If he says, "I was bad," I always correct that to say, "You did something that was wrong. YOU are not bad, no person is bad."

I know this may seem like an overemphasis on a very minor point, but this minor point is what gives nearly every Christian fits. We spend much of our time using labels that are generally pejoratives. In St. Blogs the term "liberal" in most circles is used as synonymous with mindless, blathering idiot. Jesus informs us that when we pass that judgment we look in a mirror. Before I use ANY label, I would be wise to consider what I am saying precisely. What exactly about liberal ideology is the problem that I want to address, rather than slandering a whole swath of people who hold a great diversity and variety of opinions? A label is a shorthand judgment, either in the negative or in the positive. Many in St. Blogs regard being "conservative" or "Republican" as a patently good thing. I find much in both ideologies as they are currently espoused that is repugnant to the sensibilities of one who holds to the truth of the Catholic faith. So too with "liberal" and "democrat." Now, some of these are labels we give ourselves, for various reasons, and so, in a sense, judge ourselves prior to anyone needing to speak to us. To say that I am a republican will say to someone who holds the opposite ideology, "moron, mental midget, oppressor of the poor." None of these are necessarily true, although they might all be. But why tempt others into judgment?

Eschewing labels is one of the first steps toward abandoning judgment. Further, we can refuse to say anything whatsoever about a person other than the revealed truth that he or she is the image of God and the child of God by adoption, and in general a fallen sinner. We can refuse to identify "moments of sin," instead commenting upon the objective immorality of a given act. I believe Jesus would have no problem with us identifying actions, thoughts, and words as wrong. However, to so identify a person reflects more upon us than upon the person.

People always point out to me that Jesus himself called the Pharisees "whitewashed sepulchers," "hypocrites," etc. To which, I would simply respond, "He who is without sin, may cast all the stones." We stand in no such position, and we are not permitted to follow His lead. We are constrained by the laws He articulated. "Judge not, lest ye be judged," is an inviolable spiritual law. It is like one of the laws of physics. It is a fundamental psychological and spiritual truth: what we tend to judge in others is what we see and hate in ourselves. The judgment may not be unto perdition, and it may not come from God, it may be the pronouncement of our own consciences upon ourselves.

So I encourage everyone to abandon the path of judgment, no matter how difficult it may be. Be aware of idle words for which you will be called to account, and allow your words to and about others to be only words of encouragement, love, and hope. This is one way for us to begin to live the Christian Life, Light, and Hope. Light and Hope can only come from a source that gives them freely, not from one whose gift depends upon meeting certain conditions. In other words, by abandoning our need to judge people we become more Christlike, not less so. In loving without condition, question, or cavil, we serve Him who is the Servant and Master of all.

Judge not, lest ye be judged. To use an old slogan: "It's not just a good idea, it's the law."

Today's first liturgy excerpt includes a very personal message from me to all who have joined in prayer with and for me.

But you should know everything about me and you should be aware that I am a sinner of long standing. It is not so long ago that I was led out of darkness and the shadow of death; only recently have I begun to breathe the air of life; only recently have I put my hand to the plough and taken up the cross of Christ. I need to be helped by your prayers to persevere to the end. And if you should lighten my burden by your intercession, this is the reward that will be added on to your merits, for the holy man who helps a laborer (I dare not call myself a brother) will be exalted like a great city. --From a Letter by Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop.

And now, a saint who watches over me all day (literally from my desktop) at work.

And, therefore, my own good daughter, do not let your mind be troubled over anything that shall happen to me in this world. Nothing can come but what God wills. And I am very sure that whatever that be, however bad it may seem, it shall indeed be the best. From a Letter to His Daughter Margaret--St. Thomas More

Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan

For J.H., newly named regional coordinator for the East Central Florida Carmelites, that she may rise to the task and help to renew, refresh, and revive the order here.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing

Take care above all things, most honored lady, not to insult God's boundless loving kindness; you would certainly do this if you mourned as dead one living face to face with God, one whose prayers can bring you in your troubles more powerful aid than they ever could on earth. And our parting will not be for long; we shall see each other again in heaven; we shall be united with our Savior; there we shall praise him with heart and soul, sing of his mercies for ever, and enjoy eternal happiness. When he takes away what he once lent us, his purpose is to store our treasure elsewhere more safely and bestow on us those very blessings that we ourselves would most choose to have. From a Letter to His Mother--St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan

For J.H., newly named regional coordinator for the East Central Florida Carmelites, that she may rise to the task and help to renew, refresh, and revive the order here.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing

The way they're cropping up around here those Oratorians and Domincans are a real threat to Carmelite domination of St. Blogs. Yes, well, we'll just see about that won't we my pretty. . .

Want to pray the liturgy but lack the money for the books or time to get them.

Everyone probably knows about Universalis. But I found one that is one step better in some ways:

Liturgy of the Hours Apostolate which daily offers screen-readable or printable booklets for all the hours of the day.

One of the great treasures of the Church that is often lacking in the circles of protestantism that have wandered far from liturgy is the richness of liturgical prayer. And honestly, sometimes it is hard to think of things to say and pray about on my own, so I rely heavily upon Liturgy of the Hours to open up the floodgates of prayer, both petition and meditation.

However, the Protestant churches have given rise to numerous devotiionals that are nearly always better than their Catholic counterparts. My thought is that lacking liturgical prayer, God raises up for them certain people who offer the food for meditation and prayer that Catholics have as a natural part of the faith. Catholics, not needing this, aren't particularly good at supplementing the richness of the treasury of faith.

So with Oswald Chambers, about whom I know little, but from whom I have gained much refreshment and much food for thought.

If you would like daily access to the devotional, you can bookmark this site.

I found yesterday's mediation following on the writing of St. Cyprian below most thought-provoking. Perhaps it is meant for me alone, but the question of unity among Christians and what I particularly am doing to foster, nurture, and encourage it has been on my mind for the past couple of days (since an interesting ecumenical discussion of the Eucharist over at Disputations). Particularly, I must consider the delicate issue of how to foster unity without conceding error or becoming indifferent to the profound divisions amongst us. Nevertheless, it is crucial to enter into respectful dialogue and to share the riches of the Catholic Faith, while participating in the varied richness of Protestantism.

from My Utmost for His HIghest
Oswald Chambers

Jesus’ instructions with regard to judging others is very simply put; He says, "Don’t." The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it. The effect of criticism is the dividing up of the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciple you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical. This will not happen quickly but must be developed over a span of time. You must constantly beware of anything that causes you to think of yourself as a superior person.

As sons of God, we are to abide in peace; as we have one Spirit, we should be one in mind and heart. Thus God does not receive the sacrifice of one who lives in conflict; and he orders us to turn back from the altar and be first reoconciled with our brother, that God too may be appeased by the prayers of one who is at peace. The greatest offering we can make to God is our peace, harmony among fellow Christians, a people united with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Treatise on the Lord's Prayer--St. Cyprian

Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan

For J.H., newly named regional coordinator for the East Central Florida Carmelites, that she may rise to the task and help to renew, refresh, and revive the order here.
For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing

Lord,

The only thing I'm really good at is resisting you,
and now I'm at an age when resistance doesn't have nearly the attraction
it once did.

So I ask you humbly Lord, make the path to agreement smoother,
help me not to resist your grace,
because left to myself, I will always choose what I want
over what I really need.

Open my eyes and my heart,
let me see and love you.
And in seeing, let your light shine through me.
May I become light in light for those around me,
for the salvation of souls
and for the betterment of life here on Earth.

O Lord, do not abandon me as I deserve,
but make haste and help me,
transform me into what you would have me be.
I cannot even will it fully,
but what I can do, I shall do.
I am weak, make me weaker that you might
be in complete control.

Amen.

and they were either too negative, too self-centered, or too blahhh to bother with. And so, seeing as it is better to say nothing and allow people to think you an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt, I commend your attention to the passage from 1 Peter in the prayer requests below. Derived from Morning Prayer, it is fruitful for individual meditation. There is a richness to the words that only comes forth with serious consideration.

For Christ is the bread of life; this bread does not belong to everyone, but is ours alone. When we say, our Father, we understand that he is the father of those who know him and believe in him. In the same way we speak of our daily bread because Christ is the bread of those who touch his body. Treatise on the Lord's Prayer--St. Cyprian.

As generous distributors of God's manifold grace, put your gifts at the service of one another, each in the measure he has received. The one who speaks is to deliver God's message. The one who serves is to do it with the strength provided by God. Thus, in all of you God is to be glorified through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 4: 10-11a)

Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan

For J.H., newly named regional coordinator for the East Central Florida Carmelites, that she may rise to the task and help to renew, refresh, and revive the order here.
For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

For my isolate Carmelite Brother and Sister in NY (Mr. and Mrs. O) one of whom is battling cancer, the other who has Parkinson's and has recently broken a bone, may God be with them in their trials and in their healing

Ladies Against Feminism Promoting Beautiful Womanhood.

I don't know quite what to make of it, but I thought you all might like to check it out.

An interesting thought to ponder. I wonder, is it for Carmelites only?

from Prayer Life in Carmel
Fr. Redemptus Valabek, O. Carm.

[quoting Michael of Bologna, O. Carm]

"Whatever you are about to offer, my brother, certainly remember to commend it to Mary; just as every sentence contains a noun and a verb, so every prayer of ours should include Christ the active verb and Mary the noun, just as She became the Mother of the very Word."

from Prayer Life in Carmel
Fr. Redemptus Valabek, O. Carm

Rumination on the words of God in the medieval sense, translating them into concrete action, is the final goal of meditation. The author warns that meditation of the Word without its observance will not save a man. "It is not enough to read the Scriptures and commandments of the Lord; the fruit of (resultant) action must be manifested." A mechanical type of meditation that may even commend to memory the whole of the Bible, does not justify a man. Authentic prayer must be animated by operative charity; mediation with no concrete results to show for it is worth nothing.

What might be the fruits of meditation--the concrete results that are so essential to its foundation? I do not think we need to consider this in terms necessarily of "action" as we might consider it, but in terms of "actions" as St. Thérèse might do so. A smile at someone you don't particularly care for, a helping hand where it might be easier not to lend assistance, a kind word, or a private word of warning where something is not going as it should. All of these things can be the fruit that should come from meditation. If meditation is more than memorization and an exercise of the imaginative faculties, it will always result in the desire, perhaps even the need, to do good for others.

You cannot dig very deeply into the word of God before it starts digging into you. It removes years of built up protections and exposes the heart for renewal. And a heart renewed is a heart rejoicing in the freedom to love in substantial ways. All prayer is about loving the Lord and entering into conversation with Him. One sign of the substantial effects of prayer is that one begins to engage in conversation with Christ in other people--people who show no signs whatsoever of knowing Christ reveal Him to those who are immersed in His word.

An endorsement from his significant other:

from Ulysses "Penelope"
James Joyce

. . . and O that awful deepdown torrent O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets and the figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes and all the queer little streets and the pink and blue and yellow houses and the rosegardens and the jessamine and geraniums and cactuses and Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and L thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will

Yes.

From Molly Bloom's monologue in which she makes the decision to stay with her rather staid and proper husband rather than run off with her lover. Some people need no excuse for a pint or two, but the celebration of a a marriage reaffirmed certainly seems to be one good reason.

*And a special one it is too. Bloomsday celebrates 16 June 1904, the day of the events of the Novel Ulysses. Named after the novelists protagonist, a Dublin Jew by the name of Leopold Bloom. As you can readily see, this is the 100th anniversary, although, because the book was published in 1922, and one assumes such celebrations did not start until afterwards, it is not the 100th such celebration. Nevertheless, a very cheery Bloomsday to you all.

And now, a word from Mr. Bloom himself:

from Ulysses "Eumaeus"
James Joyce

Preparatory to anything else Mr Bloom brushed off the greater bulk of the shavings and handed Stephen the hat and ashplant and bucked him up generally in orthodox Samaritan fashion which he very badly needed. His (Stephen's) mind was not exactly what you would call wandering but a bit unsteady and on his expressed desire for some beverage to drink Mr Bloom in view of the hour it was and there being no pump of Vartry water available for their ablutions let alone drinking purposes hit upon an expedient by suggesting, off the reel, the propriety of the cabman's shelter, as it was called, hardly a stonesthrow away near Butt bridge where they might hit upon some drinkables in the shape of a milk and soda or a mineral. But how to get there was the rub. For the nonce he was rather nonplussed but inasmuch as the duty plainly devolved upon him to take some measures on the subject he pondered suitable ways and means during which Stephen repeatedly yawned. So far as he could see he was rather pale in the face so that it occurred to him as highly advisable to get a conveyance of some description which would answer in their then condition, both of them being e.d.ed, particularly Stephen, always assuming that there was such a thing to be found. Accordingly after a few such preliminaries as brushing, in spite of his having forgotten to take up his rather soapsuddy handkerchief after it had done yeoman service in the shaving line, they both walked together along Beaver street or, more properly, lane as far as the farrier's and the distinctly fetid atmosphere of the livery stables at the corner of Montgomery street where they made tracks to the left from thence debouching into Amiens street round by the corner of Dan Bergin's. But as he confidently anticipated there was not a sign of a Jehu plying for hire anywhere to be seen except a fourwheeler, probably engaged by some fellows inside on the spree, outside the North Star hotel and there was no symptom of its budging a quarter of an inch when Mr Bloom, who was anything but a professional whistler, endeavoured to hail it by emitting a kind of a whistle, holding his arms arched over his head, twice.

However, my dear friends, it could also be that the kingdom of God whose coming we daily wish for is Christ himself, since it is his coming that we long for. He is our resurrection, since we rise again in him; so too he can be thought of as the kingdom of God because we are to reign in him. And it is good that we pray for God's kingdom; for though it is a heavenly kingdom, it is also an earthly one. But those who have already renounced the world are made greater by holding positions of authority in that kingdom. Treatise on the Lord's Prayer--St. Cyprian.

Requests

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

The vast noise in my head alerts me to the fact that some of the discussion at Disputations have touched upon areas that I need to work on. It is incredible how resistant we can be to the truth when it comes too close to home. But when I begin to ask important questions I find that the answers according to my present way of thinking end up incoherent. Hence, it is my notion that must change once again.

Just when you think you have a handle on reality, someone goes and throws a wrench in it.

You may be aware that I write a scriptural meditation that is posted elsewhere Thursday of each week. As I was composing this week's meditation, a thought occurred to me. The Gospel Reading for Thursday had a particularly provocative lilne, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." It followed in thought--He knows what I need better than I do myself.

I am confused between my wants and my needs. I want to be in union with God's will. Is that presently a need? It seems desirable in this world to be so, and it will ultimately be necessary to enjoy the beatific vision. But do I need that, or is that merely a desire on my part? Do I need the food I eat, or do I merely want it? I'm not speaking about sustaining life, but about eating as Americans tend to eat here and now--enough and more.

I do not know what I need, except ultimately I need God. I think that is called a remote need or perhaps a final need, if I understand the terminology. But what are the proximate needs or means to that end? I don't know.

And this not knowing is in come way culpable. I have not looked hard enough, nor have I spent enough time discerning what it is I need. I do not know the interior landscape so well as I thought I did, and perhaps I need some time wandering this howling waste to make out the contours--what gives life to desires, what calls me home to God. I do not know.

But what I do know about the matter is a great consolation. My Father knows what I need and if I humble myself before Him (and perhaps even if I don't) He will provide it. However, if I do humble myself before Him, I will begin to recognize what I need, embrace it, and live the life of joy that comes from true service and true alignment with God's will. So long as I continue in my prideful way, I will fail to see anything and continue not to be able to separate my needs from my wants--and this way is purgatory here and hereafter. Directionless, waffling, pushed by every minor breeze. And as a son of the Living God, I do not need to accept that fate. Instead I can claim my inheritance by relying upon His grace.

Father Redemptus Valabek raises some interesting points about the Liturgy of the Hours, about which I have some questions.

from Prayer Life in Carmel
Fr. Redemptus Valabek, O. Carm.

[quoting from St. Gregory the Great]

"When the sound of psalmody is guided by the heart's direction, the way for the Almighty to enter man's heart is being prepared, so that He is able to pour into the attentive mind either the mysteries of prophecy or the grace of compunction. Thus it is written: 'The sacrifice of praise will honor me, to him who walks on the right path, I shall show the salvation of God' (Ps 49:23). What 'salvation' means in Latin, 'Jesus' means in Hebrew. Therefore in the sacrifice of praise there is the path of revelation in Jesus because, since compunciton is roused by means of pslamody, the path to our heart is laid out for us, by which we are able to reach Jesus. He says this about his own Father. 'I too will love him and will manifest myself to him' (jn 14:21). And so it is written: 'Sing to God, make music to his name, build a road for the Rider of clouds; his name is Lord' (Ps 67:5). He who rides the clouds is He who by his resurrection trod death underfoot. When we sing we strew a path so that he may come into our hearts and inflame us with the grace of his love."

The interiorization of pslamody is an obligation for the follower of Jesus and follows on the prophetic dimension of his charism.

Lay aside for the moment the unclear antecedent in Fr. Valabek's gloss on the passage from St. Gregory, is the essence of what he has to say true?

Now, I assume the prophetic dimension of his charism, refers to Jesus' charism and not to the follower of Jesus. Does this necessitate the "interiorization of the psalmody?" And what precisely might be meant by "interiorization of the psalmody."

Perhaps Fr. Valabek wishes to suggest that is is a peculiarly Carmelite obligation to interiorize the psalmody. However, the passage says unambiguously, "for the follower of Jesus." This seems to suggest an obligation that transcends that of Carmelites.

Another question must be asked. Is Father Redemptus making this claim, or does his gloss suggest that St. Gregory makes this claim on the attention of Christians? I read in St. Gregory suggestions of the efficacy of this pursuit of prayer, but not overtones of its obligation for all.

Finally, in medieval times (and I may have my history of the rosary confused) the rosary arose in part as a substiture for the psalmody for "those who lacked letters." 150 Hail Mary's stood in place of the 150 psalms. If this interiorization of psalmody is really an obligation, is its spirit captured in the praying of the Rosary?

Just thought I'd ask in case others had some thoughts on the matter. I don't know quite what to think at the moment, because while I do pray the hours, I must wonder whether the psalmody is "interiorized."

We go on to say, May your name be hallowed. It is not that we think to make God holy by our prayers; rather we are asking God that his name may be made holy in us. Indeed, how could God be made holy, he who is the source of holiness? Still, because he himself said: Be holy, for I am holy, we pray and beseech him that we who have been hallowed in baptism may perservere in what we have begun. And we pray for this every day, for we have need of daily santification; sinning every day, we cleanse our faults again and again by constant sanctification. Treatise on the Lord's Prayer, St. Cyprian.

Requests

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

Haven't posted a quiz result in some time. This one comes secondarily from Smockmomma at Summa Mamas. I thought the conjoining of lazy and inspirational not only captured the spirit of the blog but the essence of my life.

The following is an excerpt from De Institutione Monachorum a text that attempted to trace the lineage of the Carmelite family to monks living on Mount Carmel from the time of the Prophet Elijah.

from Prayer Life in Carmel
Fr. Redemptus Valebek O. Carm

"There is a two-fold end. One end we are able to attain by our own efforts by the practice of virtue and with the aid of divine grace. It consists in offering God a holy heart free from all actual stain of sin. This end is reached when one is perfect and in Carith, that is, hidden in that charity about which the Wise man wrote: 'Charity covers a multitude of sins' (Prov 10:12). And because the Lord wished that Elias reach this end he told him: 'Hide in the torrent of Carith.' The other end of this life is bestowed on us as a pure gift of God. It consists in tasting somewhat in our hearts and experiencing in our minds, not only after death, but already in this life, the power of God's presence and the pleasantness of heavenly glory. This is to drink of the torrent of God's delights, and this is what was promised Elias by God with the words: "'There you will drink of the torrent.'

I quote this because, while it is from a classic of Carmelite spirituality, the words of this particular passage are universal. They don't speak so much as a method or a way of getting to the two ends as to what the ends are in themselves.

Simply spoken the author here says that there are two endplaces in prayer. We get to the one through our efforts aided by grace. But to the other we are summoned by the word of the King of Heaven. There is no way to merit this or to earn it through our works. It is grace freely given and not necessarily reserved for the few, though in actuality few actually attain it.

But I think the comparison here is useful. God's love is a torrent. Within its raging powerful stream, nothing that we have set up against Him can stand. Nothing of human construction could possibly endure the torrent of His love. To be exposed to it unprepared would be to be ripped apart.

This is one of the reasons careful preparation is so necessary. This is one of the reasons why all of the great saints seem to recommend some way of stripping oneself of all of the fragile human constructs of self. If, ultimately, we are to place ourselves in the way of God's love, it had better be in a streamlined way, with as little obstruction as possible. Even when we approach in this simplified way, the transition is tremendously difficult and painful to our human senses.

St. John of the Cross recommends detachment from all things as prepatory to this state. Others may recommend other ways of approach, although they all seem to amount to the same thing--become simple and single-hearted. We have powerful but simple means of accomplishing this task--Prayer, the sacraments, and surrendering our wills to His own.

A torrent will wash away and purify everything that cannot stand in His presence. It will prepare a person for living God's will in a way that will save souls, not only the soul of the person involved, but the souls of all those who can be touched in any way by the person. This is our great end--to participate actiively in the salvation of souls and to live in the torrent of God's love. These ends are intimately linked. We cannot live in the torrent of His love if we do not love those who are around us--and what is the point of love if it is not the desire to see each soul live eternal life in God?

If you care to take a look, I posted some thoughts--not particularly deep, nor particularly informative on this fill over at Popcorn Critics

Samuel was in his first dance recital this weekend and it was enough to swell this father's heart with pride. He played Tom Thumb, and started out onstage alone. I had watched for weeks as they practiced this and it had never occurred to me that in the actual fact of the matter, he would be all alone. Here's a little six year old on the stage with a thousand people watching. All sympathetic, of course, but nevertheless, what an experience it must have been for him.

He did well, remarkably well considering his class of little girls, all darling and sweet didn't seem to know what to do. He had to lift each one and hurry them off the stage and they nearly got out with the last of the music. It was hilarious and touching all at once.

Afterwards, Samuel was pumped, he had really enjoyed it and was looking forward to doing it again. Next year he will do both ballet and tap. He's really looking forward to the tap. He wants to do Riverdance (which is hard to find teachers for). So we'll start with American tap. Whatever it is, it's a workout and so much more in line with what I want for small children than most martial arts practice. Eventually, we'll probably get to that as well. But only after he has the maturity to discern when to practice and how. Right now, he's just a bit too young for it (and perhaps a bit too enthusiastic). One thing at a time.

God is then the teacher of harmony, peace and unity, and desires each of us to pray for all men, even as he bore all men in himself alone. The three young men shut up in the furnace of fire observed this rule of prayer. United in the bond of the Spirit they uttered together the same prayer. The witness of holy Scripture describes this incident for us, so that we might imitate them in our prayer. Then all three began to sing in unison, blessing God. Even though Christ had not yet taught them to pray, nevertheless, they spoke as with one voice.

It is for this reason that their prayer was persusive and efficacious. For their simple and spiritual prayer of peace merited the presence of the Lord.

Requests

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

I don't quite understand the furor. I've never disliked the man, but I didn't see him as all that great. You would think that he should stand beside acknowledged greats like Washington and Lincoln (of whom I also fail to see much of the glamor).

So why do people line up for five hours to file past his coffin? What was really so great about Mr. Reagan? What are people admiring and adulating? I'm not attempting to provoke controversy with these questions.

The only policy I can remember from the Reagan years is one that began to tax the pitiful stipends of graduate students AND their tuition exemptions as "benefits." So my friends, making seven-thousand dollars a year had to pay taxes on that and on up to 13,000 dollars a year in tuition fee wavers. What is there to admire in this foreward thinking economic policy? I cast my mind back to Reagan and I think Iran-Contra. What is there to admire here? Certainly the administration was no worse than many, but what are people seeing that I cannot seem to see?

I mourn for the family who have lost a loved one. In a sense I mourn for the loss of an era. And as always, I recall, "No man is an island. . . send not to know for whom the bell tolls--it tolls for thee." I am reminded of my own end.

Nevertheless I am puzzled. Puzzled, but in some sense pleased because this shows humanity at its very best. People willing to line up without complaining in a line that stretches from the Capitol biulding to the Air and Space Museum--waiting five hours to file past a man's coffin--to pay respects. There is something about this that appeals, that suggests the nobility of spirit that humanity is capable of.

In this particular case, I just don't quite understand its subject, Mr. Reagan. Regardless of my understanding, may he rest in peace. "May choirs of angels sing him to his rest."

Since he is the Sun of Justice, he fittingly calls his disciples the light of the world. The reason for this is that through them, as through shining rays, he has poured out the light of knowledge of himself upon the entire world. For by manifesting the light of truth, they have dispelled the darkness of error from the hearts of men. from a Treatis on the Gospel of Saint Matthew--Saint Chromatius

Requests

Please pray for Katherine who is with child once again and who is suffering terribly from some of the bodily occurrences that accompany pregnancy.

Please pray for me as I go through an extended process of discernment and listening.

Please remember Mary Lou's daughter Teresa who is a newborn who is not feeding well and not gaining the weight she should be

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

from The Art of Praying
Fr. Romano Guardini

The basic meaning of the word recollected is "to be unified, gathered together." A glance at our life will show how much we lack this aptitude. We should have a fixed center which, like the hub of a wheel, governs our movements and from wich all our actions go out and to which they return; a standard also, or a code by which we distinguish the important from the unimportant, the end from the means, and which puts actions and experience into their proper order; something stable, unaffected by change and yet capable of development, which makes it clear to us who we are and how matters stand with us. We lack this; we, the men of today lack it more than did those who lived in earlier ages.

This becomes evident in our attempts to pray. Spiritual teachers speak of distraction as that state in which man lacks poise and unity, that state in which thoughts flit from object to object, in which feellings are vague and unfocused and the will ineffective. Man in this state is not really a person who speaks or who can be spoken to, but merely an uncoordinated bundle of thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Recollectedness means that he who prays gathers himself together, directs his attention to what he is doing, draws in all thought--a painstaking task--so as to dedicate himself to prayer as a unified whole. This is the state in which he may, when the call comes to him, answer in the words of Moses, "Here I am."

And I might also add, in the words of Isaiah ("Here I am, Lord, send me"), and the words of Samuel--"Speak Lord, your servant is listening."

The point of this passage was driven home to me by some of the goings-on over at that most excellent of blogs, Disputations. Tom has posted some really fine reflections on prayer over the past couple of days. I hope that the series has not ceased. However, he has also posted some really well-considered thoughts on the morality and licitness of torture. As you might well imagine, almost no one has commented on any of the statements regarding prayer. The statements regarding torture have more commenters than can jam themselves into the room. Now, while this subject is important and it is a vital part of our work as Christians to eradicate this evil, certainly it is not more or even equally important to bringing souls, and especially our own souls, to Christ in prayer. This is merely one example of the many things with which we can choose to be distracted or obsessed with in the world.

Naturally no one spends their entire time thinking about prayer, and in fact that too would be a waste of time. Thinking about prayer or even talking about prayer is not praying. But I find it somewhat sad that in a discussion of prayer almost no one has anything to add, but many, many people have something to say about torture. Shouldn't we all have something to say or to add to a discussion about prayer? If we are actually praying, shouldn't it be a matter that occupies at least some portion of our consciousness. And yet, to all appearances, it occupies very little. When someone speaks of prayer there is stunned silence as though the wisdom of the ages has dropped full force into the middle of a traffic circle. It is the wisdom of the ages, but it is the ordinary and natural wisdom of the ages--a wisdom we should be comfortable around and that we should enjoy engaging and discussing.

I don't read too much into this. After all, blogs are a form of entertainment. But I think even our actions on blogs reveal something about where our thoughts and our relative values lie. Too often prayer is not one of them. Admittedly, some apsects of prayer are difficult to engage or to comment on. One doesn't want to leave the enormously vapid "Well said," with every post on prayer. But it would seem that if a couple of posts on torture can illicit nearly a hundred comments, prayer, which should be a chief concern for all of us could garner more than six.

We are distracted, torn apart, and divided. This distraction in our lives leads to distraction in prayer. We can live our lives with a focus on Jesus Christ and still pay attention to things of the world. I think this is part of why Disputations is so sucessful a blog. And the discussion on torture is, in fact, a very fine consideration of the moral, ethical, and religious aspects of the question. But prayer still should be at the center. I can do nothing about torture except (1)express outrage--either through blogging, protesting, or writing letters, or (2) praying. Of these two, I tend to view the latter as perhaps the stronger component in the solution to the problem. My outrage is a thing of the moment--here and gone. But when I carry the subject with me into prayer, it enters eternity, where God may take my concern and make something solid of it.

The distractions in prayer come from the disjointedness of life. There seem to be more distractions today because there is a greater amount of information flowing in constantly. We cannot be focused on any issue for more than a few minutes at a time IF we allow ourselves to react to all of that information.

I suppose from this I wonder if recollectedness and prayer itself might not be somewhat easier if we allowed less of the world to iintrude into our thoughts. I don't know the answer to that; however, my suspicion is that a life focused on God starts off more recollected than one that is split five-hundred ways. Prayer may be somewhat easier if we gave less of ourselves to the crises of the world and more to loving and serving our Lord.

Jesus our Lord will come, says Paul, and will come with the sound of trumpets. He will save only the woman who received his spies, that is, his apostles, in faith and obedience, and hid them on the roof of her house; and he will join this harlot to the house of Israel. But let us not bring up her past sins again or impute them to her. She was a harlot once, but now she is joined to Christ, chaste virgin to one chaste husband. Listen to what the Apostle says of her: He was determined to present you to Christ as a chaste virgin to her one and only husband. Indeed, Paul himself had been born of her: Misled by our folly and disbelief, he said, we too were once slaves to our passion and to pleasures of every kind.
--from a Sermon on Joshua by Origen

Requests

Please pray for Katherine who is with child once again and who is suffering terribly from some of the bodily occurrences that accompany pregnancy.

Please pray for me as I go through an extended process of discernment and listening.

Please remember Mary Lou's daughter Teresa who is a newborn who is not feeding well and not gaining the weight she should be

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

from the Encyclical Principi Apostolorum Petrum
Pope Benedict XV (5 October 1920)

4. However We, who embrace the Eastern Church with no less solicitude and charity than our predecessors, truly rejoice, now that the frightful war is ended. We rejoice that many in the Eastern community have achieved liberty and wrested their holy things from the control of the laity. They are now striving to set the nation in order, consistent with the character of its people and the established customs of their ancestors. We propose, appropriately, a splendid example of sanctity, learning, and paternal love for them to diligently imitate and nurture. We speak of St. Ephrem the Syrian, whom Gregory of Nyssa compared to the River Euphrates because he "irrigated by his waters the Christian community to bring forth fruits of faith ahundred-fold."13 We speak of Ephrem, whom all the inspired orthodox Fathers and Doctors, including Basil, Chrysostom, Jerome, Francis of Sales, and Alphonsus Liguori, praise. We are pleased to join these heralds of truth, who though separated from each other in talent, in time and place, nevertheless perfect a harmony modulated by "one and the same spirit." . . .

10. The testament he left for his fellow citizens - memorable for its faith, humility, and singular patriotism - reads as follows. "I, Ephrem, am dying. With fear, but also with reverence, I entreat you, citizens of Edessa, not to bury me under the altar or elsewhere in the house of God. It is not fitting that a worm teeming with corruption be buried in the temple and sanctuary of God. But lay me out in the tunic and mantle which I used and wore daily. Accompany me with psalms and prayers. I had neither pouch nor staff, neither wallet nor silver and gold; nor did I ever acquire or possess anything else earthly. Work diligently at my precepts and doctrines; as my disciples, do not fall away from the Catholic faith. With regard to the faith, be especially constant. Guard against adversaries - I mean evildoers, boasters, and tempters to sin. And may your city be blessed; for Edessa is the city and mother of the wise." And so Ephrem died, but his memory lives on, to the blessing of the Church Universal. Therefore when his name began to be mentioned in the sacred liturgy, Gregory of Nyssa could say: "The splendor of his doctrine and life illumined all the earth, for he is known in almost every place where the sun shines."

A prayer of this great Saint:

O Lord and Master of my life, give me not a spirit of sloth, vain curiosity, lust for power, and idle talk.

O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to condemn my brother:
For blessed art Thou to the ages of ages. Amen

from Hymns on Paradise-1
St. Ephrem the Syrian

Praise to Your righteousness
which exalts those who prove victorious.
1.2
I took my stand halfway
between awe and love;
a yearning for Paradise
invited me to explore it,
but awe at its majesty
restrained me from my search.
With wisdom, however,
I reconciled the two;
I revered what lay hidden
and meditated on what was revealed.
The aim of my search was to gain profit,
the aim of my silence was to find succor.

"I took my stand halfway
between awe and love."

What a wonderful way to think about and meditate on God. Through the intercession of St. Ephrem may we all take our stand halfway between awe and love and lead the world and lost souls to do likewise. Amen.

Lord, she upon our darkened souls the brilliant light of your wisdom so that we may be enlightened and serve you with renewed purity. Sunrise marks the houor for men to begin their toil, but in our souls, Lord, prepare a dwelling for the day that will never end. Grant that we may come to know the risen life and that nothing may distract us from the delights you offer. Through our unremitting zeal for you, Lord, set upon us the sign of your day that is not measured by the sun. From Sermon 3 of St. Ephrem.

Requests

Please pray for Katherine who is with child once again and who is suffering terribly from some of the bodily occurrences that accompany pregnancy.

Please pray for me as I go through an extended process of discernment and listening.

Please remember Mary Lou's daughter Teresa who is a newborn who is not feeding well and not gaining the weight she should be

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

From The Commonplace Book of Zadok the Roman we find a link to Learn Latin with Father Reginald Foster. As to its efficacy, I cannot speak. As to its innovation--wonderful!

Yet another Thomas, yet another Dominican and so we have The Four Pillars. I guess I can't begrudge them, considering how many Carmelites are running around.

From a blog I discovered via Father Jim (RatherNotBlog), an excerpt of an op-ed piece in NYT (be sure to visit the site and read a fuller excerpt of this interesting piece):

from "Circling the Wagons" (NYT)
David Brooks

But that is not how things work in real life. As Donald Green, Bradley Palmquist and Eric Schickler argue in their book, “Partisan Hearts and Minds,” most people either inherit their party affiliations from their parents, or they form an attachment to one party or another early in adulthood. Few people switch parties once they hit middle age. Even major historic events like the world wars and the Watergate scandal do not cause large numbers of people to switch.
Moreover, Green, Palmquist and Schickler continue, people do not choose parties by comparing platforms and then figuring out where the nation’s interests lie. Drawing on a vast range of data, these political scientists argue that party attachment is more like attachment to a religious denomination or a social club. People have stereotypes in their heads about what Democrats are like and what Republicans are like, and they gravitate toward the party made up of people like themselves.

Once they have formed an affiliation, people bend their philosophies and their perceptions of reality so they become more and more aligned with members of their political tribe.

If this is, indeed true, it should give any Catholic in good standing pause. I do not think it is necessarily true, but I do think that it is more often than not true. Even the best of us hold out against peer pressure but poorly and if our principle interest strays away from God and toward politics, it strikes me as entirely plausible that one would soon find all sorts of good Catholics scrambling to defend the indefensible--referring here not to candidates but to specific items of the platform.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

from The Art of Praying
Romano Guardini

Man likes to think of himself as active, striving, and creative. In this he is only partly right. He would in fact be even more right if he thought of himself as a restless being, incapable of standing still or of concentrating; as one who uses up people, things, thoughts, and words without, however, finding fulfillment; as a being who has lost the link with the center and who, with all his knowledge and abilities, is a victim of chance. This restless being wants to pray. Can he do it? Only if he steps out of the stream of restlessness and composes himself.

How close does this come to describing much of your prayer life? I don't mind saying that it is very close to my own. I sit down to pray, start to lay the groundwork, and five million incidental things flood in upon me and threaten to overwhelm me. Which bills are paid? What color should I paint the living room? Where should I go on vacation? Is Aunt Bechtilde really going to come and how will I deal with it? What am I going to do this weekend?

That's the downside. The upside is that all of these are legitimate concerns and as they flit through the mind, they can be offered up to God. We need not worry about all the things that try to drag us away from God, let them have their moment on the stage and then, let go of them. God has heard them, knows they're a concern, and He honors the sharing that starts with this preliminary movement toward prayer. This proximate preparation puts us in a good place to listen to God. Don't listen to the fear, concern, and busyness of the mind. Instead, learn to allow that busyness to occur without repression and learn to let it pass away gently. Always gently guide your thoughts back to God.

This is one of the reasons that St. Teresa of Avila recommends taking a book to prayer--preferably The Book, or more appropriately The Library. With a sacred text at hand we have an anchor, a place to return to, a way to come back to focus once again on God.

Some have recommended the techniques of centering prayer, and I suppose if they work for one, these can be every bit as effective. But whatever the technique, the end must be the same--recollectedness before God, preparation to love and adore Him and to Listen. Prayer is a time of conversation. As good conversants we should learn to be more entertained by active listening than by the sound of our own thoughts and concerns. (Not a bad idea in real life either--get those unruly thoughts under control and be truly present to the people with whom you are conversing.) Recollection--bringing ourselves together before we embark on prayer, letting go of concerns and distractions, and preparing ourselves to the present to the Lord, preparing ourselves to let the Holy Spirit teach, preparing ourselves to be remade in prayer and renewed in life.

The delights of this world and all its kingdoms will not profit me. I would prefer to die in Jesus Christ than to rule over all the earth. I seek him who died for us, I desire him who rose for us. I am in the throes of being born again. Bear with me, my borthers; do not keep me from living, do not wish me to die. I desire to belong to God; do not give me over to the world and do not seduce me with perishable things. Let me see the pure light; when I am there, I shall be truly a man at last. St. Ignatius of Antiioch--Letter to the Romans

Requests

Please pray for Katherine who is with child once again and who is suffering terribly from some of the bodily occurrences that accompany pregnancy.

Please pray for me as I go through an extended process of discernment and listening.

Please remember Mary Lou's daughter Teresa who is a newborn who is not feeding well and not gaining the weight she should be

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

Is something happening of which I should be aware? It's been very quiet here and elsewhere.

Sorry, I don't like it. Not even a little. At best it is an unnecessary and usually vaguely pagan looking thing suggesting more the Eleusinian Mysteries than the Church, and at its worst, it is as described here. You can make all the abstract arguments you like, within the American Church, it has yet to be done in a way that enhances the spirit of reverence and worship. And that is part of what liturgy should be about--not the exaltation of the individual.

I initially started reading this book because a very kind correspondent gave it to me. (Yes, she has much to answer for.) Seeing Garrigou-Lagrange on the cover, I figured I get through about half-a-dozen pages, consider it a valiant attempt and let it slide. Surprisingly in the course of that vacation alone, I got through something on the order of one-hundred pages.

Then it went into haitus, as heavy books are wont to do on my booklist. Interest revived when a Dominican who runs one of the better and more frequented blogs out there, but who shall otherwise remain nameless, suggested that the teachings of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross might not be applicable to all in one sense or another. I took up Garrigou-Lagrange because he was a Dominican writing about St. John of the Cross and making the point that the teaching was for all (in a sense). Not necessarily a noble reason, but God uses all of our idiotic motivations to accomplish His meaningful work. I have already resolved upon an answer to our good Dominican's reservations, and when we are joined in the Beatific vision, we shall share our understandings better in this regard.

But once again, I laid Fr. G-L's book aside. It is too heavy-going to long sustain a reading of it (at least for me.) I need the time to assimilate the ideas and try to see what they say and in what direction they point me. Consistently they point in the direction of my own reluctance to engage God on his own terms. More readily expressed as the fact that while I desire to submit, I avoid submission. I cannot bring myself to the proper regard of God and Christ in my life. I am a weak and useless thing, too readily distracted, too easily drawn away from what should be the center of my life. But I don't feel particularly bad about that. In fact, I rejoice in my recognition of the fact. So long as I think I'm handling it fairly well, I know that I am really not living in reality. That I can recognize this weakness is a source of great joy. Another source of joy is that I'm not the only one in this boat. Many great and lowly people share the same dilemma. The one noted below said it far more succinctly and beautifully than this rambling note:

Holy Sonnet XIV
John Donne

Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

"Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend," more simply said--I should know better than to do as I do. However, reason, also flawed by the fall, "is captived, and proves untrue." By myself I am nothing, only through God can I be rescued.

This is one of the things that Fr. G-L has pointed out to me time and again. He serves as God's present providence for me. I share what he writes, not necessarily because you would profit from it directly, but because I have profited from it greatly, and perhaps by seeing how, other works may also do the same for you. In some ways it is proving a lesson book on surrender and on submission. I am learning through this magnificent teacher what it really means to be a contemplative and how one reaches out for that end and goal.

The passage that leapt off the page into my head last night was another reminder of what we are called to as Christians.

from Christian Perfection and Contemplation
Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

What the interior soul should desire above all else is the ever deeper reign of God in it, continual growth in charity. This is should long for because the precept of love is without limit and obliges us, if not to be saints, at least to tend to sanctity, each one acccording to his condition, and because Christ said to all: "Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." This is the goal which St. Teresa has shown us. The greatest tribute that can be given her is that she has marvelously praised the glory of God by making us see, in her wriings and in her life, God's great love for the humble, and all that He wishes to do for "souls determined to follow our Lord and to journey on, in spite of the cost even to the fountain of living water. . . . This is the royal road which leads to heaven."

Is there anything quite so lovely as the first movement of the second Brandenburg Concerto? From earliest times I remember this piece of music affecting me profoundly and giving me a wonderful sense of living in a world intimately connected to its past.

The Commonplace Book of Zadok the Roman, another fan of Thursday Next

because you actually DO morning prayer. Turns out that I was doing Saturday of Week II for some reason. I suspect because God had a lot to say to me in the course of it. But if you're looking for the psalms and texts, you should look to Saturday of Week II.

But Morning Prayer has hit me time and again this morning.

Bless your persecutors; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same attitude toward all. Put away ambitious thoughts and assoicate with those who are lowly.

Treat all people the same; and treat them all well--as well as you treat yourself. When they rejoice, share in the rejoicing and do not lag behind brooding over how fortune has passed you by in favor of this less worthy one. When they weep, weep with them and and do not consider how this may have resulted from their own choices and actions. Weep because there will be a time, and there have been times, when you have been in the same place. And at the time it was not a blessing to have anyone tell you how you called this upon yourself.

And most of all, do not think of yourself. If you spend your time in the joys and sorrows of others, you will have no time to plot out things for yourself. You will have time for serving God alone. Become selfless. Or better yet, become God's self for others. Your life will be more blessed and abundant. You will find yourself in a world transformed and no different at all. The scales will fall away and you will see the Light as light and the darkness as darkness. All of this simply from loving with a human heart and with the help of grace.

12   The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13   Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14   They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
15   To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

These verses of Psalm 92 put me in mind of something T.S. O'Rama wrote the other day about certain psalms he could not pray with any real confidence. (I paraphrase). But this is one that gave me pause to think. How could I ever count myself among the righteous? I can count myself among the "justified," I trust I am in the ranks of those for whom Jesus's salvific act is not without effect--but righteous. That's certainly stretching a point.

I am a sinner, and not by any stretch of the imagination righteous nor entitled by right to those things promised here. I am as lost as anyone who can hear His voice and still choose not to respond.

And yet. . . and yet, I believe that what is promised here for the righteous is given even to those who are not righteous, but to those who attempt to live in His life, who call upon His grace and are "righteous" therefore by referring to the "right" sources for all wisdom and right-thinking.

Alone I have no righteousness, nor any claim to such, but through Him and through His great love, I have claim to all that is promised here and all that is promised beyond. Only through Him do I have claim to anything at all, because of myself I am nothing but a mass of contradictory impulses. He gives life meaning and goal; without Him all that is lost is truly lost and can never be found. Through Him all things are made new and what was not righteous becomes redeemed and a source of hope for all.

Here is one of the more entertaining books I've chanced across in a couple of years. Uncategorizable--one might refer to it as science fiction, as there are elements of its narractive technique and sense of the world. But perhaps the closest one can come to descirbing it is to refer to the work as dissonant metanarrative in which disparate elements combine to produce a rather surrealist and yet oddly coherent and compelling narrative.

Welcome to the world of Thursday Next, veteran of the 130 some-odd year Crimean war and Litertec Special Operative. This is a world in which forging a Byronic lyric is a major offense; in which the entire audience for a Shakespearian drama is filled with actor who hop up on stage or from the audience willy-nilly and act their parts; in which hundreds of John Milton's gather to celebrate his poetry; in which some people can enter the world of novels and some characters from novels can emerge into the real world and affect events. This is the world in which the completely amoral Acheron Hades operates. Using the Prose Portal invented by Thursday's uncle Mycroft Acheron spends a bit of time kidnapping and ransoming minor characters from a Dickens Novel, and finally makes an assualt on Jane Eyre herself.

There's no way to adequately describe the wonders you are likely to find in this marvelous work. The prose is sprightly and sinuous. The author appears to have had a great deal of enjoyment in the composition of the work and he shares that enthusiasm with the reader. It is fill with puns and allusions and all sorts of gimmicks that make the novel just thrum along. You will encounter the People's Republic of Wales, time travel, chronological storms that can be harnessed with a basketball, and all manner of interesting metanarrative and "breaking the frame."

A very, very fine and entertaining beach book, or a work for serious consideration. Either way, an overall entertaining romp through a highly interesting, inventive, and imaginative universe. If you are up for a challenging read, consider this work--it will be worth your time.

You have never degrudged the martyrs their triumph but rather trained them for it. And so I am asking you to be consistent with the lessons you teach them. Just beg for me the courage and endurance not only to speak but also to will what is right, so that I may not only be called a Christian, but prove to be one. "A Letter to the Romans"--St. Ignatius of Antioch

Requests

Please pray for Katherine who is with child once again and who is suffering terribly from some of the bodily occurrences that accompany pregnancy.

Please pray for me as I go through an extended process of discernment and listening.

Please remember Mary Lou's daughter Teresa who is a newborn who is not feeding well and not gaining the weight she should be

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

A very nice little translation of some of the more important texts fromt he Early Church Fathers with explanatory notes is available through CCEL Early Christian Fathers.

And a novel about the days of St. John Chrysostom--Frederic Farrar The Gathering Storm

From G. K. Chesterton--the Essay on Pope in Twelve Types--

"Have we really learnt to think more broadly? Or have we only learnt to spread our thoughts thinner? I have a dark suspicion that a modern poet might manufacture an admirable lyric out of almost every line of Pope."

From G.K. Chesterton on Walter Scott, "It would perhaps be unkind to inquire whether the level of the modern man of letters, as compared with Scott, is due to the absence of valleys or the absence of mountains. But in any case, we have learnt in our day to arrange our literary effects carefully, and the only point in which we fall short of Scott is in the incidental misfortune that we have nothing particular to arrange."

(Although truthfully, this is at the dawn of the 18th.)

An excerot from John Dryden's magisterial reworking of Chaucer's "The Knight's Tale"

excerpt for Palamon and Arcite
John Dryden

 In days of old there lived, of mighty fame,
  A valiant Prince, and Theseus was his name;
  A chief, who more in feats of arms excelled,
  The rising nor the setting sun beheld.
  Of Athens he was lord; much land he won,
  And added foreign countries to his crown.
  In Scythia with the warrior Queen he strove,
  Whom first by force he conquered, then by love;
  He brought in triumph back the beauteous dame,
  With whom her sister, fair Emilia, came.
  With honour to his home let Theseus ride,
  With Love to friend, and Fortune for his guide,
  And his victorious army at his side.

Get the entire thing, along with a very nice commentary here

I post this excerpt from Douglas's translation of the Aeneid because it is beautiful in its own right and it reminds us of the evoltion of English. Much of this is incomprehensible without glosses. But it is very lovely to read.

from "The Introduction to the Aeneid"
Gavin Douglas

  Laude, honor, prasingis, thankis infynite
      To the, and thi dulce ornate fresch endite*, (*writing)
      Mast reverend Virgill, of Latyne poetis prince,
      Gemme of ingine* and fluide** of eloquence, (*imagination,**flood)
      Thow peirles* perle, patroun of poetrie, (*peerless)
      Rois*, register**, palme, laurer***, and glory, (*rose, **standard, ***laurel)
      Chosin cherbukle*, cheif flour and cedir tree, (carbuncle--a semi-precious stone)
      Lanterne, leidsterne*, mirrour, and a per se**, (*lode-star, **unique person)
      Master of masteris, sweit sours* and spring and well, (*source)
    Wyde quhar* our all** ringis thi hevinle bell: (*everywhere, **over all)
    I mene thi crafty* werkis curious** , (*skillful, **well-wrought)
    Sa quik, lusty, and mast sentencious,
    Plesable*, perfyte, and felable** in all degre, (*pleasing, **knowable, intelligible)
    As quha the mater held to foir thar ee; (as though the matter were held before our eyes)
    In every volume quhilk the list do write*, (*it pleases you to write)
    Surmonting fer all uther maneir endite*, (*manner of writing)
    Lyk as the rois in June with hir sueit smell
    The marygulde or dasy doith excell.

One could infer from this reading that the poet rather likes the work of Virgil, what do you think?

Be sure to read the comments box of the prayer requests for yesterday for an excellent selection from the offic of readings. For some reason I don't have that particular Saint in my Liturgy, so it must be the proper of the Carmelite calendar, which I have yet to obtain. Perhaps Mr. Alford or another kind Carmelite can tell me where I can get this resources (Carmelite Liturgy of the Hours)--if such exists. I haven't seen one about. Thanks.

In terms of real threats, Philip Pullman ranks far higher than the objects we commonly launch defenses against. See this insightful overview for the details.

Since the daybreak or the dawn is changed gradually from darkness into light, the Church, which comprises the elect, is fittingly styled daybreak or dawn. While she is being led from the night of infidelity to the light of faith, whe is opened gradually to the splendor of heavenly brightness, jsut as dawn yields to the day after darkness. from Saint Greogry the Great--Moral Reflections on Job

Requests

Please pray for Katherine who is with child once again and who is suffering terribly from some of the bodily occurrences that accompany pregnancy.

Please pray for me as I go through an extended process of discernment and listening.

Please remember Mary Lou's daughter Teresa who is a newborn who is not feeding well and not gaining the weight she should be

A special request from a gentleman battling a particularly troublesome and besetting sin for grace and help as he continues forward.

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

The following should be of some interest to St. Blogs, as I think it has been out-of-print or only available in omnibus volumes:

G. K. Chesterton Twelve Types

Including studies of Savonarola, Tolstoy, Stevenson, Scott, and St. Francis.

Symbolically, this crime also reveals that a simple and rough way of life--enriched by many fine human qualities yet enslaved by its own weakness and corruption--must give way to a more civilized life where in the higher experessions of the mind and better social conditions prevail. Homily at the canonization of the Martyrs of Uganda--Pope Paul VI (Office of Readings for the Day)

Requests

Please pray for Katherine who is with child once again and who is suffering terribly from some of the bodily occurrences that accompany pregnancy.

Please pray for me as I go through an extended process of discernment and listening.

Please remember Mary Lou's daughter Teresa who is a newborn who is not feeding well and not gaining the weight she should be

A special request from a gentleman battling a particularly troublesome and besetting sin for grace and help as he continues forward.

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

Not that we shouldn't try, we certainly should. However, it is stories like this one that cause me to question the viability and purpose of legislation among a people with such hard hearts and broken minds. We can't even effectively ban infanticide without one wiser-that-thou supposedly constitution-interpreting-Judge pronouncing that we are wrong.

A while back I posted my "opposition" to legislation, which consisted largely of the fact that while not really opposed, I didn't really see much purpose to it with the present make-up of the courts and the present mindset of the populace. This just convinces me more and more of the necessity for prayer and fasting as well as charitable, meaningful, sincere person-to-person action and conversion. As Jesus said, "This type comes out only with much praying and fasting." We've invited Moloch in--it's very, very difficult to shove him back out again. While effective, substantive law will help, we're not yet at the stage, it appears, where such will be allowed to take effect. Please pray.

are easier for me to find at the beginning of the month due to the way my reporting system reports. So I'm pleased to off Patriot Paradox
as a new place for you all to go and take a gander at.

M. R. James's translation of Biblical Antiquities of Philo

A popularized Pseudepigrapha The Forgotten Books of Eden

Cicero De Amicitia; Scipio's Dream

Tacitus The Germany and the Agricola

Crutwell A History of Roman Literature

Lord The Roman Pronunciation of Latin

Mr. Core requests that we make known to all the world (or the ten people in it that visit here from time to time) that he has a Proposed Novena of the Litany of our Lord Jesus Christ, Priest and Victim.

it is new to me and recommended such small hands.

Evelyn Waugh's first novel--what can one say?

It is both humorous and in some ways biting. Peter Pennyfeather is a prototypical anti-hero who not only is not in control of his life, but who doesn't even show the slightest inclination toward wanting control of it. Tossed out of Oxford because of a prank played one him during one of the house rivalry nights, he assumes the position of every fallen School Man and wastrel--Public School teacher. Eventually he meets and desires to marry an aristocratic woman who runs a rather dubious operation in South America as the source of her income. In a turn of events, he takes the fall for her and winds up in prison. The first four weeks he spends in a highly regimented solitray confinement during which he is told when to eat, drink, bathe, sleep, work, and read. Needless to say, he finds this style of life wonderfully comforting and requests that solitary continue indefinitely.

This, in broad strokes, is the main line of the novel, which, like all of Waughs work, is rally about the most serious things in life. Waugh seems to have little sympathy for, but a genuine liking of, his main character. The others in the book, he cares for even less. With the satiric bite we was to become famous for he skewers each one of them.

The book was amusing through and through, while throwing some very sharp darts at all and sundry. I'm told by the essay referenced below that this book was written before Waugh was a member of the Catholic Church, and the attitudes toward matters devotional and the fate of the one clergyman of the novel both tend to support this notion.

If you want something on the lighter side that still has sufficient depth to be ruminated over for some days with great profit to the reader, this is a recommended work. Some may not care for the sharpness of the satire, I was, at first put off by it. (The first Waugh I ever read was The Loved One.) But gradually one gets into the spirit of it and understands Waugh's point, however exaggerately it may be made.

For an essay about Waugh and his works by the questionable, but occasionally entertaining Christopher Hitchens, see here.

Yesterday, Tom at Disputations commented that sometimes you just happen to get an answer that completely satisfies the question but disconcerts the questioner. Today I had a similar sort of disconcerting experience--call it looking in a mirror I didn't want to see.

"Sin speaks to the sinner
in depths of his heart.
There is no fear of God
before his eyes.

He so flatters himself in his mind
that he knows not his guilt.
In his mouth are mischief and deceit.
All wisdom is gone."

I've read the words every first Wednesday from the time I started praying the Liturgy of the Hours. Today they decided finally to speak rather than to remain on the page, and I would rather that they had not. It makes one rather uncomfortable.

But then I suppose there is a blessing here as I recall the words of Soren Kierkegaard--"Those who are comfortable with Christ do not know Him."

England, and in this case Wales, are undoubtedly the most dangerous places on Earth for those dwelling in small idyllic villages with impeccably laid out gardens. Murders abound and there is a murderer around every corner ready to set to rights some ancient wrong or to cover up some other dastardly deed.

In a sense, this is a more accurate lens through which to image human nature. On the surgace everything seems calm and placid. Underneath everything is roiling and seething--a mire of sin and evil.

Evan Evans is a constable in this duplicitous world. Also know as Evans-the-Law to distinguish him from Evans-the-Meat and Evans-the-Dairy. Not one, but two murders of recently arrived foreigners (men from London) occur within a very short period of time and it is up to Evans to keep the calm and clear the name of innocent and beleaguered villagers.

A very pleasant mystery in the Golden Age tradition. Well-plotted with a few unexpected twists (again revelatory of the dark side of human nature), the story is a leisurely tour of the village of Llanfair the lesser. (Llanfair the greater has title to the town with the longest name in the world.)

If you're interested in light mysteries, or in Wales, or just in a pleasant read, this book will serve you well.

If passing from unbelief to faith means that we have passed from death to life, we should not be surprised to find that the world hates us. Anyone who has not passed from death to life, is incapable of loving those who have departed from death's dark dwelling place to enter a dwelling made of living stones and filled with the light of life From the Office of Readings--Origen.

Requests

Please pray for Katherine who is with child once again and who is suffering terribly from some of the bodily occurrences that accompany pregnancy.

Please pray for me as I go through an extended process of discernment and listening.

Please remember Mary Lou's daughter Teresa who is a newborn who is not feeding well and not gaining the weight she should be

A special request from a gentleman battling a particularly troublesome and besetting sin for grace and help as he continues forward.

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.

Another excerpt from a current read:

from Awakening Your Soul to the Presence of God
Fr. Kilian Healy O. Carm.

We often hear and read about "the Christian way of life." For some people, this is a vague and intangible expression. In reality, it means precisely what we have just described--namely, a life of common interest with God; a life in which this love of God dominates all our thoughts, words, and actions. The greater the love, the more Christian the life. Whatever we eat, drink, say, write, or do, it should come from our soul living in conscious union and silent converation with God. It is this union with God that colors our whole life and makes it Christian.

When enough of us are conscious of this union and guided by it in our thoughts and actions, there will be change in our country's philosophy. When men and women, conscious of their calling, actually live in union of love with God in their daily lives, our politics, our literature, and our entertainment will become really Christian.

The world will become Christian when men become Christian.

Is there any joy as great as the joy in praying in a community of believers?

During the weekend as we gathered as leaders of the Lay Carmelite Family, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the Liturgy of the Hours read, chanted and sung by a community of believers. I was blessed by the great love of the people gathered to worship the Lord, and I was edified by being among those whose vocation was similar to my own.

There is something about celebrating community prayer that strengthens those who are wavering and reinforces key points of understanding. It leads more readily to meditation and reflection on what is being prayed, and the Liturgy as a communal celebration deepens and broadens the prayer itself.

Every day I pray the prayer in isolation. Some days it is a penance. Some days it is a joy. Some days it is simply a duty, others it is a mysterious privilege. The prayer does not change, it is always an avenue of grace for those praying. But our perceptions of it change. Praying in community helps us regain the joyous sense of privilege and honor. We are allowed and encouraged to address He who created the entire universe. Such a gift is almost incomprehensible. And it is but a small part of the treasure trove that is life in the Church.

Praise God for all that he gives and allows us. Praise His Holy name in high places and in low. Praise Him for the privilege of service and love that He grants us. Praise Him for His love and abiding concern for each one of us.

Now, all of that said some days ago, I come to another question. Would I, as a Christian Artist, be comfortable releasing a work that did not conform to doctrinal views of the world.

The answer is quite mixed. If I felt that the lack of conformity were such that it might endanger the faith of many, I would have to self-censor. In a sense Artists are kind of minor shepherd assistants. They popularize the difficult and abstruse and they have an obligation to help the sheherds of the Church (assuming they are faithful members of the Church).

But the determination of what may or may not undermine faith is really a very nebulous criterion. We had a case here in St. Blogs or recent date where an individual found strength and solace and the ability to remain within the Church through groups that many might find alienating and challenging. Even if these groups have some doctrines which may be called into question by some, they allow many to remain within the Church if agitated by some things done in the Church.

So the problem is great. But I believe that a person of prayer, an Artist, who leans upon God and calls upon God to assist in all parts of the creative endeavor can count upon God to make good even the imperfections of a work. If the books is challenging, as is Endo's, the challenge may call forth all sorts of responses. View the discussion here, where many hasten to point out that apostasy always leads to greater damage. Note responses that suggest we need to measure our reactions and see whether we might not be sitting in judgment on the state of a person's soul and that Endo was presenting the historical reality of his time. (He was. By such apostasies public Cahtolicism of the time was effectively surprised into an interesting "closet cult" that combined elements of what was remembered of Catholicism with the pervasive Shinto animism of the time.)

A Catholic artist owes it to God and to humanity to remain as close to the Church as possible during the act of composition; however, he is also called upon to tell what he understands of the truth, however broken and distorted that may be. I could not write a perfect doctrinal analysis of nearly any Catholic doctrine. I am not ashamed to admit that much of my understanding is unclear. But stories are not doctirne and Art is not the Magisterium. It can be a great aid to the Magisterium and a great ally to the Church. It can also go astray.

The artist faithful to his vision will endure such attacks as Endo has endured. He might be considered apostate himself. He may be criticized for his stand or his content. Nevertheless, there is a kind of pact between faithful artists and their Creator which does not allow for lack of integrity. If the story leads to a point, the point must not be skirted, the structure must not be abridged.

Not every work by an artist is worthy of the name art, nor is every writing worthy of reading. What is great Art, however, may ask questions, but it will, I believe, rest strong in the faith, regardless of what others may think about it. In this much Sartre was to some extent correct: for the artist hell can be other people judging him by the work of art and its apparent confromity/disconformity with established doctrine, not by the substance of self.

Requests

Please pray for Katherine who is with child once again and who is suffering terribly from some of the bodily occurrences that accompany pregnancy.

Please pray for me as I go through an extended process of discernment and listening.

Please remember Mary Lou's daughter Teresa who is a newborn who is not feeding well and not gaining the weight she should be

A special request from a gentleman battling a particularly troublesome and besetting sin for grace and help as he continues forward.

For Christine, Gordon, Heather, and Ray as they set up house and get used to new surroundings.

For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.