conversion
Judaism and the Holocaust – St. Edith Stein
April 28, 2010
During a recent trip to the Dallas area I had occasion to purchase Roy Shoeman’s excellent book, Salvation Is from the Jews: The Role of Judaism in Salvation History
As many contemplatives do, Carmelite nun Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (what a prescient choice of name in religion that was!) kept notes on insights she obtained during prayer. As a Jewish convert to Catholicism, she saw what the Nazis were doing to the Jews in light of the Cross. She wrote of a prayer she made during a holy hour in the convent:
I spoke with the Savior to tell him that I realized it was His Cross that was now being laid upon the Jewish people, that the few who understood this had the responsibility of carrying it in the name of all, and that I myself was willing to do this, if He would only show me how. I left the service with the inner conviction that I had been heard, but uncertain as ever as to what “carrying the Cross” might mean for me.
Later she wrote:
I understood the Cross as the destiny of God’s people, which was beginning to be apparent at the time (1933). I felt that those who understood the Cross of Christ should take it upon themselves on everybody’s behalf…. Beneath the Cross I understood the destiny of God’s people.
St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) 1938 passport photo
All religious write a final testament and St. Teresa Benedicta’s spirituality is evident in hers, penned in 1939:
I joyfully accept in advance the death God has appointed for me, in perfect submission to His most holy will. May the Lord accept my life and death for the honor and glory of His name, for the needs of His holy Church — especially for the preservation, sanctification, and final perfecting of our holy Order, and in particular for the Carmel of Cologne and Echt — for the Jewish people, that the Lord may be received by His own and His Kingdom come in glory, for the deliverance of Germany and peace throughout the world, and finally for all my relatives living and dead and all whom God has given me; may none of them be lost.
She was, with her sister Rosa and a train transport composed entirely of baptized Jews, murdered at Auschwitz.
When reading her words I could not help thinking of the condition of our nation today – the blatant attacks on human life by those in power, the war on marriage and the family waged by perverted souls and government bureaucrats, the corruption of the power elite, and all those who become co-operators in the various evils designed to separate man from God, for that is the final goal of the Enemy. The similarities between the leaders and supporters of Nazi Germany and America’s leaders and their supporters today are much too close in spite of the vigorous denials given voice by the press.
As St. Edith Stein did in her day, do we understand what our society is doing and becoming in the light of the Cross? Underneath all the ideologies of the day, the war is between man and the principalities and powers as St. Paul wrote in Eph. 6:12. A reversal of the path our most powerful leaders are currently on calls for extreme sacrifice. Are we ready as St. Edith Stein was to “joyfully accept in advance” what God has chosen for us to suffer, even death, for the salvation of souls, for our country, for the conversion of sinners?
A Little of My Story
March 5, 2010
Holy Trinity, 1430, Master of the Votive Picture of Sankt Lambrecht, Museum mittelalterlicher österreichischer Kunst, Vienna
“O Lord,” I prayed, “Help me to grow more patient and trust You more.”
“Are you sure?” He asked.
“Yes, Lord.”
“Okay, I’ll give you fibromyalgia and everything that goes with it,” He said.
“Whoa! What is that, Lord?” I asked.
“You’ll find out, and I’ll be with you every step of the way,” He replied.
Six years or so ago when I was diagnosed my body was burning from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head. I couldn’t stand to wear my glasses and couldn’t see without them. Every morning I got up, dressed, had breakfast and promptly collapsed into bed again. After awhile I gave up on dressing and stayed in my nightgown. My mind was in a stupor such that I could hardly pray and I lay there simply clutching my rosary. When I had a conversation with my husband I forgot what I wanted to say after three words were out of my mouth. I gave up driving and stopped going anywhere except to church, which finished me off for the rest of the day.
A couple of years went by and I found myself completely discouraged and wanting to go to bed never to wake again. It seemed that everything the doctor told me to do and prescribed for me only helped marginally. Yet as sick as I was, I never lost the feeling that this condition was God’s will for me, although I did think for awhile that maybe He might have picked a less unpleasant way to get His point across.
One day I said, “Well, Lord, I don’t get it. Here You have smacked me over the head with a 2×4 and I still don’t get it. What is it you want of me?”
“I want all of your pain and suffering. Give it to Me with joy for the restoration of the Traditional Catholic Mass. Give it to Me for the priest I have chosen to be your next bishop. Give it to Me for the redemption of others and to expiate your sins. Give it to me for My priests who are troubled,” He said.
“OK, Lord. Whatever you say. I want to do Your will. But Lord, why did You have to teach me patience and trust this way?” I asked.
“Because you were too full of yourself and your talents and ambitions were misplaced. I could not work through you the way you were. I want you with me for all eternity. I want you to know and understand Me better, to trust Me more through your helplessness and pain and to share what you are learning on this journey with My other children who are suffering even worse than you,” He said. “I want you up here on the cross with Me. I want you to witness to My message of hope and love, and the joy that comes from doing My will. I want you to understand the fullness of My love for you.”
Morning sun over the ocean, Shizuoka Prefecture, (c)Tomo.Yun (www.yunphoto.net/en/)
And so I didn’t give up, and after accepting two new hips from Him through a good surgeon, and after slowly regaining some physical and mental equilibrium from remedies He showed me through knowledgeable holistic practitioners, I started this blog and put it in His hands. I blessed Him for giving me this miserable disease and for putting me through the added great pain of hip degeneration; for making me aware that I have to depend on Him for every breath, every blink, and every beat of my heart. I blessed him for giving me a high maintenance body because I know He wants me to learn how to care for it properly and share what I learn with others. I blessed Him for showing Himself to me both through pain and through the many forms of beauty that reflect His being. Most of all, I bless Him for loving me enough to have created me and for having put all the wonderful people in my life whom I would never have met had I not become disabled.
“A Song for Nagasaki” by Paul Glynn, S.M.
February 26, 2010
Dr. Takashi Nagai
Last Sunday I found a book at the church library. It wasn’t on my top ten for Lent, but it was about Japan and a Japanese holy man who transformed others’ lives by his gentleness and forgiveness. Since I am interested in Japanese history, especially in what transpired to cause the terrible aggression that drew so many into World War II, I checked it out. What I ended up with is a moving conversion story that brings Christ’s teachings to life in a unique way and that has enriched my Lenten prayer.
A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai-Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb
Nagai entered into a spiritual quest while he attended medical school in Nagasaki – a quest that led him from Shintoism to atheism to Catholicism and ultimately to marriage with the daughter of the family which had been at the heart of the underground Church for the centuries of government persecution of Christians. The biography reveals how Nagai’s medical studies, service as a medic in the Japanese army during the occupation of Manchuria, and his return to become a pioneer of radiology research at Nagasaki University formed his spiritual growth.
Before the bomb exploded over the city that fateful August day, Nagai already had developed leukemia from his radiation exposure, yet he had refused to quit working. The cancer did not stop him from caring for victims of the inferno although he was wounded himself, and to his surprise and that of his fellow medical practitioners, his disease went into remission for a couple of years because of his exposure to the bomb’s radiation.
Nyoko-do
Nagai lost his beloved wife in the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945, but his children who were farther from ground zero survived. Not long after, he moved into the rubble of the ruined city to study the effects of radiation on all life forms, constructing a tiny dwelling on the ground where his house once stood. He called his little abode “Nyoko-do“, meaning “as yourself hall” taken from Jesus’s words: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It was one 6×6 room with a porch built by friends. He lived there with his children until he died.
Throughout the book Glynn interweaves Japanese history and customs into Nagai’s story, giving the reader a good understanding of the depth of this man. He describes well how Nagai brought not only physical healing but spiritual healing to the suffering and war-weary people. Determined not to be bitter or vengeful, he wrote articles and powerful books as a legacy for his children that became best-sellers throughout Japan. During the last four years of his life, he accomplished this lying on his back because of weakness and abdominal swelling caused by the cancer.
This book above all, is a story of love and forgiveness, of sanctity brought forth from horror. Many people from around the world, including Helen Keller journeyed to meet this unassuming man, who gave most of his earnings for the education and care of war orphans. His example continues to inspire and he is considered a saint by many Japanese people of all faiths.
If you are attracted to conversion stories, this book will not disappoint you. It is filled with the wonders of God’s grace and inspiration to overcome all bitterness, resentment, and desire for vengeance that plague the human heart. Nagai truly suffered with joy.
The History of Ash Wednesday
February 16, 2010
“Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.” These sobering words based on Genesis 3: 19 are a call to conversion shrouded in the mists of ancient time. As with many Christian observances, Ash Wednesday as we know it today is an organic development of Old Testament practices. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Jonah, Judith, Job and Maccabees all speak of the use of sackcloth and ashes as a penitential act to invoke God’s mercy.
Although the Old Testament is rich in its reference to the use of ashes, only a few written records exist from the first millennia of the Church to tell us of the evolution of this first signpost on the journey through Lent. We do know from the early Church Fathers that if a Christian committed a serious sin, he had to confess first and then was given a sackcloth garment and his head sprinkled with ashes. He was required to remain in this state for some period of time and then was reconciled with the rest of the Christian community by the bishop.
From these beginnings the practice of using ashes as a penitential symbol grew into more formal use throughout the Church. By the sixth century the Spanish-Mozarabic rite called for signing the foreheads of penitents with ashes before admitting a gravely ill person to the Order of Penitents. The Order of Penitents were those whose sins were so grave they were required to do public penance starting on the Wednesday before the first Sunday of Lent and ending with re-admittance to the community on Holy Thursday. This is the first historical indication we have that what we know today as “Ash Wednesday” was a regular observance for at least part of the Church.
As the piety of penitence and mourning for sin grew, so did the formal liturgical rites for Lent. The name “dies cinerum” (Day of Ashes) is the first record of the formal name for Ash Wednesday and appears in the Gregorian Sacramentary ritual book dating from sometime in the eighth century. In the Romano-Germanic Pontifical of 960 we find a full-fledged ceremony for ash sprinkling on this day.
By the eleventh century, the practice of public penance began to fall into disuse but Ash Wednesday began to take on a wider significance for all. Abbot Aelfric (955-1020) of Eynsham wrote that the faithful took part in a ceremony involving the imposition of ashes on the Wednesday before Lent. After the Synod of Beneventum in 1091 Pope Urban II established the use of ashes on that day for all Catholics everywhere.
As the evolution of the Ash Wednesday liturgy continued, new ceremonials came to be. Using blessed palms and olive branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration as the source for ashes began in the 12th century. Today in many parishes people bring their blessed palms to be burned for the ashes in a ritual observance.
The celebration of Ash Wednesday in the twenty-first century in the Catholic Church is a combination of ancient prayers and rituals, assimilation of newer rituals like the congregational participation in the burning of palms, and a post-1965 recovery of the baptismal focus of Lent. At baptism the Christian promises to reject sin and profess the Gospel. Ash Wednesday is the start of the conversion journey made time and again by the baptized. It also is a solemn reminder that all will die yet a joyous reminder that in death, with a life of conversion, heaven awaits.
And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive…So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory. It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power. (1 Cor. 15: 22, 42-43)
A faithful saying: for if we be dead with him, we shall live also with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us…But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earth: and some indeed unto honour, but some unto dishonour. If any man therefore shall cleanse himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and profitable to the Lord, prepared unto every good work. But flee thou youthful desires, and pursue justice, faith, charity, and peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Tim. 2: 11-12, 20-22)
Finally, a Tighter Directive from Catholic Bishops on End-of-Life Care
January 4, 2010
The San Francisco Chronicle wrote its usual one-sided whine in covering a November 17th mandate from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to provide nutrition, hydration, and medication to patients who are in a “presumably irreversible conditions … who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care.”
The bishops voted to revise the guide, Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, at their November general assembly in Baltimore. The bishops’ previous guide predated Pope John Paul II’s 2004 address to the International Congress on “Life- Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” and the August 2007 Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration issued by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.
All Catholic health care institutions and workers have been notified of the new mandate. Whether any will attempt to get around it remains to be seen, but predictably, Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices, which advocates for the right of terminally ill patients to make life-or-death decisions is making false accusations about the mandate without, apparently, having read it. She claims that these directives are in conflict with legal instructions from patients or their families and will apply to everyone. The answer to the first is “Maybe”, to the second, “No.” The work-around stated as hospital policy, that someone or their surrogate who insists on starving and dehydrating the patient to death will be moved to another institution is not acceptable. Not surprising from someone who is in the business of killing.
However, Lori Dangberg, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Catholic Health Care, which represents California’s 55 Catholic hospitals made a disturbing statement. She is quoted in the article as saying that if a situation was unresolvable, the hospitals would find some other way to accommodate the person. How do you find a moral way of accommodating a person who wants to commit suicide or a family that wants to murder a member? What about the fifth commandment do people not understand?
The bishops wrote:
The moral teachings that we profess here flow principally from the natural law, understood in the light of the revelation Christ has entrusted to his Church. From this source the Church has derived its understanding of the nature of the human person, of human acts, and of the goals that shape human activity…
28. Each person or the person’s surrogate should have access to medical and moral information and counseling so as to be able to form his or her conscience. The free and informed health care decision of the person or the person’s surrogate is to be followed so long as it does not contradict Catholic principles…
The Church’s teaching authority has addressed the moral issues concerning medically assisted nutrition and hydration. We are guided on this issue by Catholic teaching against euthanasia, which is “an action or an omission which of itself or by intention causes death, in order that all suffering may in this way be eliminated.”[38] While medically assisted nutrition and hydration are not morally obligatory in certain cases, these forms of basic care should in principle be provided to all patients who need them, including patients diagnosed as being in a “persistent vegetative state” (PVS), because even the most severely debilitated and helpless patient retains the full dignity of a human person and must receive ordinary and proportionate care…
58. In principle, there is an obligation to provide patients with food and water, including medically assisted nutrition and hydration for those who cannot take food orally. This obligation extends to patients in chronic and presumably irreversible conditions (e.g., the “persistent vegetative state”) who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care.40 Medically assisted nutrition and hydration become morally optional when they cannot reasonably be expected to prolong life or when they would be “excessively burdensome for the patient or [would] cause significant physical discomfort, for example resulting from complications in the use of the means employed.”[41] For instance, as a patient draws close to inevitable death from an underlying progressive and fatal condition, certain measures to provide nutrition and hydration may become excessively burdensome and therefore not obligatory in light of their very limited ability to prolong life or provide comfort.
59. The free and informed judgment made by a competent adult patient concerning the use or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures should always be respected and normally complied with, unless it is contrary to Catholic moral teaching.
37. See Declaration on Euthanasia.
38. Ibid., Part II.40. See Pope John Paul II, Address to the Participants in the International Congress on “Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” (March 20, 2004), no. 4, where he emphasized that “the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act.” See also Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration” (August 1, 2007).
41. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Commentary on “Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration.”
The new mandate is a much better document, emphasizing the importance of a properly formed conscience, compassionate about families faced with tough decisions, and clear on Catholic moral teaching. However, a key piece to the puzzle concerning implementation is the elephant in the living room: lack of catechesis on end-of-life issues at the parish and diocesan level. Some Catholics are very fortunate to have bishops who are vocal about pro-life issues and publish steady, authentic teaching in their diocesan media. But the priest has to stand up in the pulpit and tell the entire congregation what the Church teaches and why on these issues and do it often because of the pro-death atmosphere we breathe every day.
Support at the parish level for families in troubling circumstances is also a necessity. Everywhere we must have a loving and caring approach to help people realize that what seems to be the greatest calamity is instead a gift from God and murder has no place in the heart of the Christian.
The Chronicle’s so-called journalism contained no quotes from Catholic medical personnel nor Catholic institutions who view this mandate as a boon and why. Nor did they present any quotes from pastors who support the mandate and how the mandate helps people deal more peacefully with end-of-life decisions. Clearly, from the article, it appears that this is another “bash the big, bad bishops” slant.
Click on the links provided above to read the article and to read the bishops’ document. You can order the document from the USCCB publications page on line.
Please join me in my nine month rosary novena for our country and conversion of those who are pro-death.
A Rosary for Our Country
Today I prayed an extra rosary that our nation be delivered from the pro-death powers governing our country. Over the past few days my mind has seen hordes of dead – not just babies, but disabled people of all ages and the elderly. The implications for life if Congress passes any form of the health care bill they are wrangling over are dim, dim, dim. It’s not only abortion, it’s the denying of livelihood to so many Americans through policies that pander to special interest groups. Terrible poverty, anarchy, and despotism with the attendant cruelty of such a world is all too close. It’s all a continuum. A demonic darkness pervades this country at every level of government, but especially Capitol Hill. If we lose our moral authority through pro-death laws, we can no longer offer hope to the suffering elsewhere on this planet.
This morning, I understood that I was to devote more prayer and sacrifice to our country’s situation. Since today is Friday, I took the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary to Our Lady and asked her to crush the head of Satan – to put the screeching demons to flight. I cannot go out to demonstrate anymore, I have written letters, sent emails, and done what I can from the temporal angle. Now what is left is penance and prayer.
Agony in the Garden, 1465, Donatello, bronze, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence
Agony in the Garden: Dear Mother Mary, Jesus suffered a terrible agony in Gethsemane with no one beside Him except the angels. He knew the pharisees were out to kill Him. He sweat blood for us. We are your children. Please Mother Mary, do not let the demons of hell continue to inspire the evil directed at America through the power-drunk politicians who seek to destroy the nation and make it into something it was never founded to be. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.
Scourging at the Pillar: Dear Mother Mary, Jesus was scourged almost to death while the sadistic Roman guards laughed and the Pharisees and High Priests gloated. His blood was poured out everywhere. Please, dear Mother Mary, gather your children, we the brothers and sisters of Jesus, and ask your loving Son to stay the hands of those who would have our blood and our livelihood. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.
Crown of Thorns, c. 1510, Cranach, Lucas the Elder, oil on lime panel, private collection
Crowning with Thorns: Dear Mother Mary, with a cruelty beneath that of the animal kingdom and worthy only of the hateful demons of hell, the Roman guards pressed a crown of sharpest thorns into the head of your Son and our Brother. They shoved a reed into His hand and threw a red cloak about Him while mocking His Kingship. Please, Mother Mary, we are your sons and daughters, too. Ask our dear Jesus to stay the hands and tongues of those who mock life and the dignity of all man with their plans to strike down the poor and helpless and continue the genocide of races. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.
Carrying of the Cross: Dear Mother Mary, you followed Jesus as he carried his heavy cross through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha. You saw the people curse and spit on Him. You saw the soldiers beat Him when He fell. You saw little mercy toward Him except for Veronica. Please, Mother Mary, for the sake of the suffering of your Divine Son, ask dear Jesus to give His followers the strength to remain on the narrow path of life and to defeat the demonic forces that would go against the natural law of God. Plead with Him to stay the hands that would lay burdens upon our backs so heavy that we will fail under their load. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.
Crucifixion, 1503, Cranach, Lucas the Elder, pine panel, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord: Dear Mother Mary, you saw and heard it all – the hammering of the nails, the thump and jolt of the cross as it sank into its hole. You saw the soldiers gambling to win your Son’s clothes. You heard the mocking of the crowd and more gloating from the Scribes and Pharisees. You heard him cry out from the Cross. You accepted us as your children when He gave you to us as our Mother before He died. Please, Mother Mary, ask your Son, Jesus, to come to our aid in this time when so many lives are threatened by the greedy and pompous who live by the dictatorship of relativity. Plead with Him to stay the hands of those who would have us die because they believe we are unworthy of life. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.
Walking with Christ
The Road to Emmaus, 1308-11, Ducci di Buoninsegna, tempera on wood, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena
Everything in the Old Testament is shot through with the Redeemer. It is, after all, the Word of God, Who is Christ himself. A simple way to think about it is to ask, after reading a section, “Where is Christ in this?” Some passages are more difficult for the average person to comprehend, needing some commentary to help answer the question. But others are quite simple. When I read the Bible, I ask myself how to live what I have learned – how do I walk with Christ? Then I plan what I will do to walk with Him.
Through Facebook I found a friend who, on November 29th of this year, started The Six:Eight Project blog. It is based on Micah 6: 8: I will shew thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee: Verily, to do judgment (justice), and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous (humbly) with thy God. (Douay Rheims)
Kristie writes about how she is living this charge from the prophet. It is a real world example of walking with Christ. I recommend her blog as one that will not only inspire you, but give you some laughs as well, because we can recognize ourselves in Kristie. She will surely help me grow, and I hope, you, too. And we will share her joys and sorrows with her.
It’s not too late to catch up with Kristie. Be sure to read her first post to help you get into the swing of it.
Search
Barb's Custom Shop
Donate
I am grateful for even small donations to help keep this site going. All donors will be kept in my prayers.
Blog Disclosure Policy
Archives
Blogroll
- American Life League
- Catholic Morality
- Cause of Our Joy
- Dr. Brownstein
- Dr. David Williams
- Dr. Joseph Mercola
- Eastern Oklahoma Catholic
- Flechas Family Practice
- Human Life International
- Kansas Catholic
- Latin Prayers
- Life Extension
- LifeSite News
- Lynn Baber
- New Liturgical Movement
- Pray It Off!
- Rorate Caeli
- Savior.org
- Secret Harbor
- St. Louis Archdiocese Missions
- St. Louis Catholic
- The Beautiful Gate
- The Hermeneutic of Continuity
- The Holy See Press Services
- The Remnant
- Thou Art Jules
- Thoughts on Grace
- Time for Reflections
- Una Voce Ark. Ozarks Newsletters
- Vitamin Research Products
- Vultus Christi
- What Does the Prayer Really Say