Because I watch quite a bit of Asian art films and drama, I am struck by the fatalistic response to suffering that is an outgrowth of Buddhist beliefs and finds its expression in the dialogue of many of the works.  Life without Christ is so grim.  If I had to believe that the trials of this life were karma and that I was going to have to come back and deal with this world all over again I’m not sure how I would handle it. Fortunately we have a loving Father who sent His Son to redeem us from the misery of this world and to make sense out of suffering in the human condition.

St. Teresa of Avila, Peter Pawel Rubens

Father Gabriel writes in Divine Intimacy for today:

Christian patience is not the forced resignation of the fatalist or the philosopher who submits to suffering because he cannot escape it, nor is it the attitude of one who submits because he is not able to react through lack of strength and resources; it is the voluntary acceptance of suffering in view of God and eternal happiness, an acceptance sustained by the knowledge that suffering is absolutely necessary to purify us from sin, to atone for our faults, and to prepare us to meet God.  Christian patience incites us to accept suffering serenely, and gradually to esteem and love it, not because we see it as an end in life, but rather as a necessary means for attaining the end, which is love of God and union with Him. If Jesus willed to live a life of martyrdom and to die on the Cross in order to kindle the fire of charity in us and restore us to friendship with God, how can we expect to attain the plenitude of love and intimacy with God if we do not follow in His footsteps?

“Christ, therefore, having suffered in the flesh, be you also armed with the same thought” cries St. Peter (1Pet. 2:1).  Let us embrace suffering then, with the same sentiments which Jesus had: to do the heavenly Father’s will to atone for sin and to give Him proof of our love.

Christian patience is not merely a passive attitude in the face of suffering; it is also active and voluntary.  The latter is the more important because it is this which makes suffering meritorious. A patient man is passive because he wills to be passive, because he uses his free will to submit to all the sufferings which he meets on his way, because he voluntarily bows his shoulders under the yoke of suffering, just as Jesus bowed His under the weight of the Cross, because He willed to do so, “quia ipse voluit” (Is. 53:7).

A Christian is not a forced Cyrenean, but a willing one, not in the sense that he goes spontaneously in search of suffering — this would not be feasible for all, and sometimes would be imprudent — but in the more modest sense whereby he accepts willingly all the suffering which he encounters on his way, recognizing in this the Cross offered him by God for his sanctification.

St. Teresa of Avila is known for this great quote, a few words of which you might see in a stained glass window of a Carmelite monastery like the one in my area:

O Jesus, what greater proof of Your love could You give me than to choose for me all that You willed for Yourself?  To die or to suffer: this is what I should desire (T.J. Way, 18; Life, 33- 11).

The Freudians would call us masochists.  We are, however, Christians with purpose sent to reach out to our fellow man and bring him the hope of the Cross.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

St. Dominic Adoring the Crucifixion, 1440s, Fra Angelico (b. ca. 1400, Vicchio nell Mugello, d. 1455, Roma), Fresco, Convento di San Marco, Florence

Today is the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the effective date for implementation of Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum, in 2007.  Thanks again, Holy Father, for clarifying that all Catholics who wish to worship according to the 1962 liturgical books have a right to do so and that bishops must facilitate this wherever access difficulties arise.

Today’s meditation in Divine Intimacy was on gratitude.  Father Gabriel writes:

This is our position in regard to God: we have nothing of our own; all that we are and have comes from Him, and in return for His infinite generosity, we can do nothing but use His gifts to express our gratitude to Him.  “In all things give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all” (Thes. 5:18).

Yow.  I needed this reminder.  For the past two weeks I’ve been suffering from awful hives.  Tuesday morning I cancelled my workout at the therapy pool because I woke up around 5:30 with my head, shoulder, arm and legs itching like crazy.  These are not small bumps.  They start small, swell, and expand to cover numerous square inches of skin, even joining one another, until the heat and itch is just awful.  They were not only on my scalp, they were around the edges of my face and on my ears.  I could feel the little devils wanting to spread all over my face and other body parts.  Last week my lower lip swelled like a wiener.  When they get that big, that’s when they become painful, too.

Every 4-5 years these crop up and continue for weeks, necessitating the use of prednisone and anti-histamines along with a sharp change in diet.   No doctor has been able to explain the cause except that they think it is caused by allergies and probably I’m being exposed to too many irritating substances in the air, food, and who knows what all other sources.  So I am not only not normally normal in what I can do, eat and drink, when these strike what has become normal has to be adjusted even further.

hives (urticaria)

St. Paul tells me I must be grateful for this scourge which will last for an unknown amount of time and which can barely be controlled.  Actually, I am grateful.

Thank God for the extra time to read, meditate, and pray since it’s hard to do some of the things I’d like to do.  Thank God for the medicines and herbs that help.  Thank God for another lesson in dependency on Him and self-discipline. Thank God for the chance to suffer in union with His Son on the Cross.  Thank God for a reminder that self-pity is useless and that He’s relieved me before and will do so again when He’s ready.  Thank God for giving me the faith to know that these hives are a gift from Him to make me a better person, and trust that the experience will bring forth good fruit.  After all, these attacks are nothing compared to what Jesus suffered for us.

So now I offer this to Him with a smile even though I don’t feel like rejoicing.  But then, faith, hope, and charity are not about feeling but about our free will conforming ourselves to the will of God.  May this make up for all the times I wasn’t grateful for His gifts, and for those who, like me, forget to be grateful.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Holy Spirit stained glass window by Bernini, St. Peter's basilica, the Vatican

With Pentecost coming upon us this Sunday, a number of Catholic bloggers are writing posts related to the Holy Spirit that are very interesting and informative.  Rather than write one myself on a particular topic, I’m linking to the ones I’ve found useful and hope you might like them, too.

Joe Heschmeyer wrote a post, The Charismatic Movement and the Catholic Church at Shameless Popery, a blog he and Father Andrew Strobl write.  This deals with something I hadn’t heard of before: the “continuationist” and “cessationist” view of the Catholic Church, tongues, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

Also at Shameless Popery Heschmeyer wrote The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: What They Are and How to Use Them in which I learned the difference between the Pentecostal interpretation of the Gifts and the Catholic viewpoint.  It comes down to gifts God gives to every baptized Christian and gifts He bestows on individuals.  I like how he brought up that the sacrament of Confirmation completes the gifts of the Holy Spirit we originally received at Baptism. Very interesting.

Reginaldus at The New Theological Movement wrote You’re not speaking in tongues, you’re just mumbling.  This is not a put down of the Charismatic movement but an explanation of several Bible verses that have been misused or misunderstood regarding speaking in tongues and what “speaking in tongues” really means.

Could Jesus speak in tongues? is Reginaldus’s answer to a question that never occurred to me but provides deeper understanding of this charism.

Hardened Hearts and Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit by Mary at The Beautiful Gate deals with a topic I’ve meditated on over the years.

In view of the tendency of many Christians today to claim that God would not be so “mean” as to condemn angels and saints to hell forever and that somehow after death you can have a second chance, a correct understanding of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and Christ’s assurance that it is the only sin that can’t be forgiven in this world or the next logically shows that hell is eternal for all who go there. This should be a strong motivation to give up sin, to avoid the near occasions of sin, and to live the Two Great Commandments, keeping our eye on the prize.

This is a great prayer to the Holy Spirit – one that will keep us from blasphemy of the Holy Spirit: Psalm 19: 14: Cleanse me from my unknown faults!  From wanton sin expecially restrain Thy servant; let it not rule over me.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

We might find it strange that in Paschal time we would have several days of penance, but the Church has good reason for it.  We are approaching commemorating the final hours of Jesus walking this earth.  For those of us who have a hard time saying “goodbye”, we understand the grief the Apostles, disciples and Mary must have experienced.  So although we are in a time of rejoicing, we are also in a time of sorrow immediately preceding the Ascension.

St. Mamertus, engraving

The History of Rogation Days

Rogation Days (from Latin rogare, to beseech) are a wonderful example of what Vatican Council II meant when in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum concilium) it spoke of “organic growth.”  We owe these days to the churches of southern Gaul, specifically the church at Vienne.  This tradition dates back to the 400s under the great bishop St. Mamertus.

Just after the Burgundians had conquered the area of Vienne in the mid 400s, all sorts of calamities began to occur, not unlike today with earthquakes, floods, great winds, hail, sicknesses, starvation, etc. Crops were destroyed and many died.

The good bishop, unbeknownst to himself, began a practice in this time of trouble which has come to form a part of the sacred liturgy of the universal Church and which is Biblically based.  Remember that whenever the Israelites were suffering greatly, a good dose of penance and sacrifices accompanied by the psalms would bring them relief.

St. Mamertus prescribed three days of public expiation and supplication to God in which the faithful were to devote themselves to penance, walking in procession chanting appropriate psalms, and fasting.  The three days preceding the Ascension were chosen. Masters were required to dispense servants from work so that all could assist at the long functions that filled most of the three days.  In his time the procession lasted six hours as the people went from church to church throughout the countryside.  Before beginning, the people received ashes as on Ash Wednesday and were sprinkled with holy water.  Everyone walked barefoot, led by a cross of the principal church in charge of the observance.

A detail recorded by a monk of St. Gall’s tells us that Charlemagne would join the procession barefoot and walk from his palace to the stational church.  St. Elizabeth of Hungary did the same, for in 816 Pope Leo III brought this practice to Rome and from there it spread everywhere.  St. Charles Borromeo in the 1500s observed Rogation Days in his see of Milan, visiting over ten churches every day in procession.

Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B. wrote in the 1800s in his great The Liturgical Year series:

If, then, we would have a correct idea of the Rogation days, we must consider them as Rome does – that is, as a holy institution which, without interrupting our paschal joy, tempers it. The purple vestments used during the procession and Mass do not signify that our Jesus has fled from us, but that the time for His departure is approaching. By prescribing abstinence for these three days, the Church would express how much she will feel the loss of her Spouse, who is so soon to be taken from her.

Abstinence is no longer an obligation for Rogation days, nor are they holy days of obligation. Ashes and sprinkling the faithful with holy water is not part of the ritual anymore.  Also, the diocesan Bishop may transfer these days to three other consecutive days which are more accommodating to local custom and need.

Purposes of Rogation Days

The Church observes the Rogation Days for two reasons:

1. To, in Biblical terms, appease the anger of God and avert the chastisements which the sins of the world justly deserve, and
2. To draw down the Divine blessing on the fruits of the earth.

Today the faithful chant the litany of the Saints during the procession as well as Psalm 69 (Deus in adjutorium meum intende or O God, come to my assistance).  When the procession is over, the Mass of Rogation is offered.

How to keep the Rogation Days if you can’t observe them at your parish

In all the 18 years of living in our diocese, never once have I heard “Rogation Days” mentioned even though we are a dominantly rural diocese.  Never once have I seen them observed and I am well informed of what is going on regarding the sacred liturgy here.  I suspect the same is true for others here and there.  But you can be sure they are observed in the 1962 liturgy and in various other dioceses around the world.

To join the universal Church in these celebrations you can pray the complete Litany of the Saints and Psalm 69 all three days. Simple, isn’t it?

Why we need to keep the Rogation Days

Let’s take a look at 2010 and 2011:

• Major earthquake and destruction in Haiti
• Major Gulf oil spill and loss of life
• Civil war and rebellion everywhere in the Middle East
• The Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami
• Terrible flooding up and down the Mississippi this spring
• Tornadoes throughout the South, the Midwest and eastern parts of the USA
• Slaughter of Christians everywhere in the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan, India, etc.
• Food shortages and extremely high food prices around the world
• Riots spreading across Europe and Greece falling apart
• Crop failures of all kinds the world over
  

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few things that should be on the list.  Can anyone seriously say that we don’t need observance of the Rogation Days?  Are we not enduring great chastisements now? Do we not have troubles with planting and harvests the world over now because of many different calamities?

The Church gives us a great opportunity for instruction in the Catholic faith and spirituality with the observance of Rogation Days. Everywhere we have Catholic schools we have an opportunity to celebrate these days with the parish children in procession even if parents have to be at work.  Pastors can encourage parishioners to come for the sacred liturgy if they can and explain the meaning and purpose of these days to all.

As in so many instances, our sacred liturgy offers us the chance to re-orient ourselves to God – to reinforce a right relationship with Him. The world needs these days observed with a humble and contrite heart.  Remember that God told Abraham if he could find only ten just men, He would spare Sodom.  Can we not be among those ten just men today, calling God’s mercy on this sickened world?

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V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Last night Missouri was hit by the worst tornado in its recorded history.  A funnel ¾ of a mile wide and six miles long tore through Joplin, ripping the roof off St. John’s hospital, blowing out its windows, and piling up mashed cars three deep.  A 300 lb. man was sucked out a hospital window.  X-rays were found in backyards of Springfield, Bolivar and Willard, all towns about an hour or so away from the scene. Large trees were twisted and shredded and steel beams took the shape of pretzels.  At least 90 people have died in this storm and entire neighborhoods destroyed.  Rangeline, the main drag, is unrecognizable.

St. Michael the Archangel Defeats Satan

We live in southwest Missouri in a house of less than 800 square feet.  We have no place to go on our property should we encounter such a storm.  All we can do is pray for God’s protection in these times.  Fortunately, the system that devastated so much of this area skirted the small town we live in, but I assure you I was asking God to send plenty of angels to guard us.  And not those effeminate looking ones depicted everywhere.  We needed St. Michael’s mighty muscle and we got it.

Perhaps most remarkable last evening was something that happened between the two major storms that passed through.  I looked up to see a strange pale yellow orange light through the window.  It was as if someone had put a colored filter in front of a camera lens.  Roger and I went outside to discover that the entire world was bathed in that light.  The sky from the north and west was full of this soft color and it affected everything it touched.  I’ve only seen this phenomenon a couple of other times and it’s always been evening storm related.  Amid the destruction great beauty shone.

Today I’ve tried to reach friends that live just a few miles south of Joplin but the phone calls won’t go through.  Many cell towers are down and land lines have been affected.  I will keep trying.

With last evening’s events fresh in my mind, I was struck by today’s Lauds psalm 28:7-9  where we pray:

The voice of the Lord strikes fiery flames; the voice of the Lord shakes the desert, the Lord shakes the wilderness of Cades.  The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests, and in his temple all say “Glory!”

God did plenty of that yesterday.  When will all men glorify Him?

The next reading was 1 Chron. 29:10-13:

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of Israel, our father from eternity to eternity.  Thine, O Lord, is magnificence, and power, and glory, and victory: and to Thee is praise.  For all that is in heaven and in earth is Thine.  Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art above all princes.

Thine are riches, and Thine is glory: Thou hast dominion over all. In Thy hand is power and might: in Thy hand greatmess, and the empire of all things.

Now therefore, our God, we give thanks to Thee: and we praise Thy glorious name.

We often forget that everything belongs to God.  Even things we make, plant, or raise, because none of it can be done without His power.  Our conceit seems to know no end in today’s world.

I believe that God is visiting chastisements like these upon all the earth to wake us up.  Or rather, His permissive will is holding back very little of what He has set in motion because, as the conversation went between God and Abraham over Sodom, we have not enough just men among us. I wrote about God’s permissive will in Lent, the “Why?” of Suffering, and the Japanese Tragedy.

The state of the world today is why I personally am often praying Bible verses like the ones here and in my Three Favorite Scripture Verses, along with the ending of the Divine Mercy chaplet.  I believe God is not calling just me, but as many as will do so, to keep Him first and foremost in thought, word, and deed, praising Him.  This is the right relationship we must see restored for the good of man.

Remember the many people who started attending church after 9/11?  A lot of them quit after awhile.  Meanwhile, the good  along with the bad suffer, and we know that we do not know the day or the hour of our passing so we must always be ready.

Please pray for those who died or were injured in last night’s storm, and for consolation for their families.  May conversions result from this tragedy. Rescue efforts continue in Joplin where 50% of the area is ruined.

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V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

On May 1, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI will officially assign the title “Blessed” to his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.  Our late pope was entirely devoted to Our Lady who always points us to Christ, so it is fitting that this ceremony is performed in May, Mary’s month.  Also fitting is that it takes place on the same day as the communist International Worker’s Day because Pope John Paul II was the ultimate threat to communism.

What does it take to be declared “blessed?” Verifiable practice of heroic virtue and one miracle obtained through the intercession of the person after death. This criteria has been met.  And although the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has four thick volumes of testimony on Pope John Paul II and one verified miracle, in subsequent years both the Church and the world will learn much more of the saintliness of this pontiff as his cause for sainthood advances.

Objections to the beatification

In recent weeks I’ve seen many people up in arms over the beatification.  The fury against it comes from many places.  Some cite the fact that he declared in Ordinatio Sacerdotales that the Church has no authority to ordain women to the priesthood.  They have a political feminist agenda.

Others cite his praise of Legionnaries of Christ founder, Maciel, probably the greatest fraud in the Church in recent years, and Pope John Paul II’s handling of the priest sex abuse scandals.  Yet others shoot flaming arrows in his direction for kissing the Koran and the two Assisi events.  And finally, many objections arise from the blatant liturgical abuse demonstrated at his public Masses.

I’ve also seen snarky comments about it taking money to be beatified and that the cause is supported by people with plenty of money. Some declare that the beatification puts a blessing on everything Pope John Paul II said and did.

Whatever Pope John Paul II’s intentions were in the many things he did, some caused scandal.  But who are we to judge what is in another’s heart?  God has spoken on the beatification by granting a miracle through his intercession.  That should be enough.  How dare we stand in the face of God and decry His judgment?

Pope John Paul II was human.  He was not perfect. No doubt he would be the first to say that sometimes he made bad judgments.  But who has never made a bad judgment?  I venture to say God’s mercy has saved all of us many times from our rampant stupidity.  And what do some bad calls have to do with living a life of heroic virtue?

The pope is not the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland.  He cannot rise up and declare, “Off with their heads!” if things happen that harm the Church from within or without.  Rather, the pope, and we know from testimony that John Paul II spent hours, often prostrate, in front of the Blessed Sacrament, must pray a lot to lead the Church prudently.

What strikes me about the aggressive nay-sayers concerning the beatification is that their problems come from abject ignorance of how the Church works in general – which is exactly as Christ founded it, their own political/secular agendas, and the appalling pride of “The pope didn’t handle his job the way I think he should have handled it so therefore, he should not be beatified.”

Prophetic Witness

Crown of Thorns, 1520-25, Lucas, Cranach the Elder (b. 1472, Kronach, d. 1553, Weimar), Oil and tempera on limewood, Private collection

I am convinced that the life of Pope John Paul II was a prophetic witness for our day and the future in the most fundamental aspect of existence – life and the dignity of the person. From that flows the sanctity of marriage and the domestic church – the family. Everything else hinges on life and dignity of the human person.

John Paul II set in motion something no other pope was able to do because of his time in history.  He presented himself de facto as the father of all people by traveling to so many countries and reaching out to so many people. The Vicar of Christ is the Face of Christ to the world.  He lived a life of the suffering Christ fearlessly and called everyone to Jesus in his travels.

Regardless of disagreements on decisions he made or how he chose to lead, established fact is that he has met the Church’s criteria for beatification. He was a loving, holy man and holy pope.  The Church is better for his pontificate and he cannot be blamed for the eruption of festering Modernism and outrageous disobedience to Church teaching that showed its ugly face after Vatican II.

In fact, the blame falls on all of us who failed to pray for our priests and bishops, who failed to pray for the conversion of sinners, who made Sunday attendance something to be gotten over with and not genuine adoration of God, and who thought we knew everything about our faith because we memorized the Baltimore Catechism.

Christ said in Luke 12:1-3: “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed: nor hidden, that shall not be known. For whatsoever things you have spoken in darkness, shall be published in the light: and that which you have spoken in the ear in the chambers, shall be preached on the housetops.”

We have seen this Modernism, anthropocentrism, narcissism, and spirit of disobedience come fully into the light and broadcast everywhere.  It is a massive threat to the salvation of souls and can only be overcome by the power of God. Why do some people refuse to understand that Pope John Paul II did the best he could in the circumstances God placed him in?

I think it is because they have no spirit of submission to the will of God.

The Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, cannot be destroyed no matter what a pope does or doesn’t do. What we most need to do today is to follow John Paul II’s example of praying the rosary and participating in Eucharistic Adoration for the salvation of souls and reparation for the tremendous offenses against God.  We also must know our Faith inside and out and teach it to our children.

Let us rejoice in the beatification, imitate Pope John Paul II’s virtues, and devote time to living our duties and responsibilities in such as way as to become as holy as God wants us to be.  Let us leave the rest to God.

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V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

My Lent this year is more focused that ever because of the disaster in Japan.  The lessons of detachment from things, from life, from my own will are gripping.  The responsibility to pray for the conversion of sinners looms before me as never before.  Something about tens of thousands of people dying in minutes is overwhelming.  I ask myself, how many might not have made it to heaven because I did not sacrifice and pray enough?

Weeping Woman of Natori, Reuters/Asahi Shimbun

In a way, this photo is a metaphor for the soul, grief-stricken in its emptiness, and overcome with sin as Natori is weighed down with jumbled rubble. Is this what our sinful souls look like to God?

The people of Japan will clear the leavings of the tsunami.  The chaos will subside.  Will we clear our souls of sin through the mercy of Confession?  Will we detach ourselves from the things of this earth, using them only as necessary on our journey to heaven? These are the lessons this picture brings to mind.

I want to wipe away the woman’s tears, but I can’t.  Only God can do that through other people who follow the Beatitudes and the Commandments and who will personally touch her.

We ask, if He loves us, why does He allow such tragedies?  Yet the greatest tragedy of all is that the majority of Japanese people are not Christian. They do not know Jesus.  They do not know God.  They do not know they are loved as a priceless treasure with a home in heaven just for them.

This natural disaster occurred as a natural event in a fallen world.  God’s permissive will does not interfere with the creation He set in motion and that creation has been affected by the sin of Adam. Yet God in His goodness always uses the evil that befalls us for our good.  What looks like a curse is really a blessing – a way that God says, “Look at Me.  See my love for you.  Pay attention.  I want you with Me forever.  The things of this world are as nothing before Me.  But you are my beloved children and I died for you.  In earthly terms, your value is incalculable.”

We may not understand it at the time we are enduring grave suffering.  Maybe we will never see the why of an event in this life, but we will see and understand all in the next. God can do only good.  Doing evil is not part of His nature. It is supernatural Faith from Baptism that tells us in our hearts that God allows tragedy to bring us to Himself.

Many Christians are coming to the aid of the Japanese people.  They are like Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, seeing Christ in the suffering survivors and bringing the love of Christ to them.  Many more of us who can do nothing materially are praying for the conversion of Japan.  A life-changing event like the tsunami is a door to Baptism, but only grace can bring someone through it.

God alone knows the multitude of prayers that have been said for them that would not otherwise have been said.  The aftermath of the quake and tsunami remind us once again that we are all members of the human family and we are all creatures of God, loved by Him with an unimaginable strength.  Now, I must be about making this Lent really count for the salvation of my own soul and that of my brothers and sisters everywhere in the world.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Awareness of God

Today we join Colleen at Thoughts on Grace to share quiet moments we had with the Lord, or those when we experienced Him in the ordinary.

1.  The snow comes down every few days and the temperature has been 0° or slightly higher until yesterday when the sun came out and we got a little warmer.  For the past two weeks I’ve skipped working out because my fibromyalgia reacts badly to the chill. Instead, on the days I would have roused myself to go to the therapy pool, I stayed under the warm covers and meditated on matters of Faith and the Virgin Mary.

2.  My fibro pain has gone higher with the lack of exercise and yesterday while I was grocery shopping and trying to get prescriptions filled at the pharmacy I could barely contain my irritation. Doctor’s office said I didn’t have to come in, they’d call the prescription in.  OK, so far so good.

Got to the pharmacy.  Somebody with a bunch of kids had a problem not having their insurance in order.  Stand in line and wait for 20 minutes while they argue it out with the clerk.

Finally it’s my turn.  Only two out of three prescriptions were there.  Called the doctor’s office.  “Well you have to come in or we can’t give it to you.” But just two days ago they said I didn’t need to come in and that they would phone the prescriptions in.  They also said that if the doc wanted to see me, they’d call. I got no call.  Body-wide pain levels rising.

Now I have to drag my sorry behind from Walmart to home where I wait a couple of hours and then drag it to the doctor’s office where I get to take 15 minutes to fill out an electronic patient form with questions they already have answered in their system, and then wait and wait and wait. I was gritting my teeth and telling myself to hold on – choking back my feelings of wanting to give somebody a piece of my mind for having inconvenienced me.

Pain levels were accelerating while I’m trying to get a grip on myself.  The later in the day the higher the pain levels anyway. Plus, the prescription I needed was for my sleep meds.  Without them I can’t turn my brain off to sleep.  It’s one of the nasty facets of fibro I’ve tried to overcome without success. 

So add anxiety to irritation and you have one very growly lady, because I know from the outset I have to drag myself back to Walmart and wait and wait and wait all over again while my whole body becomes one huge mass of flame. Then when I finally get home I have to fix dinner.  Throw a little accelerant on the fire here.

Trying to get myself under control, I had taken the book “Kindness” by Father Lovasik to the doctor’s office with me to read while waiting.  When I got to the section, “Strive to suffer graciously” it was as if the good priest had sat me down and held up a mirror to my face.  He writes:

One of the most attractive features of holiness is to combine suffering with gentleness. [OK, tiger lady, get a grip.] This demands that suffering be almost wholly influenced by supernatural grace…. [Yep, I sure need that grace right about now before I turn into a gargoyle.]

Gargoyle

Kind suffering will make you look at what others feel rather than at what you have to bear. You will see your own crosses on other people’s shoulders, and consequently you will be all the more kind to them.  The saints were silent in suffering, because they knew that what they suffered was itself a suffering to those who loved them. [Yes, just because I'm in a lot of pain and inconvenienced to the nth degree here, why should I inflict my bad mood on everyone around me?  This is my problem, not theirs.  It is unjust to inflict it on them.  Smile and be nice.]

Make an effort to hide your pains and sorrows.  But, while you do so, let them also urge you to be kind and cheerful to those around you. The very darkness within you should create a sunshine around you.  In this way, the spirit of Jesus will take possession of your soul. [If there's anything I need at the moment, it's the spirit of Jesus.  OK, time to calm down and let all this anger go.  You can't change anything anyway.  Just hang in there.  You can get through it.  In the eternal scheme of things this is nothing.]

And so, the super grouch went back to Walmart smiling at the good people there, got her meds, went home, fixed dinner still smiling, and thanked God for the pain meds and sleep meds that helped her get ready for a new day. And hubby was also very happy that his real wife came home and not some monster out of the black lagoon. A little 100 proof spiced rum topped the day off just fine.

If it hadn’t been for Father Lovasik’s book, I would have left a lot of unhappy people in the wake of my frustration, so I consider a lot of yesterday a Sabbath Moment.

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V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

St. John of Matha, Laurent de La Hire (1606-1656, Paris), oil on canvas and wood, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Today’s 1962 calendar celebrates the feast of St. John of Matha (1160-1213).  Pope Innocent III approved his founding of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity (the Trinitarians) in 1198 for the purpose of ransoming captives from the Muslims. His community spread throughout France, Italy, England, Spain, and into north Africa where they were able to free many slaves.  The ones well enough to be sent home went, but the Trinitarians were allowed to remain in north Africa to care for the ones too old or ill to go home.

Today’s feast is a reminder that slavery is far from over. Not only is slave labor practiced in the Sudan, Niger, Somalia, Chad, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Indonesia to name a few states, sex slavery is rampant in those countries as well as Cambodia, Thailand, middle Europe, Africa and the Middle East to name a few more.

One of the most concerning developments in the saga of human trafficking is the heavy trans-Atlantic sex trade and the growth of sex slave hubs such as Houston, Texas where  United States politics facilitates transporting illegal immigrants by illegal immigrants for the sole purpose of prostituting girls as young as 11 or 12. Murder of these women is not uncommon if they are a threat to discovery. Our country, therefore, belongs on the list of countries facilitating human trafficking.

The scams worked on the slaves to get them here and keep them hidden are as varied as the evil human heart can devise.  If the full numbers were to be discovered, every decent person would fall to his knees in a collective wail of anguish on the spot.

The Corporal Works of Mercy

Our time is St. John of Matha’s time to the nth degree. If ever we needed the intercession of a saint opposed to slavery it is now, and he is one we can turn to.  He is a great example of living a corporal work of mercy which, unfortunately, was left out of the Catechism of the Catholic Church – #2447.  (Every Catholic family should have a copy of this in the home for study and reference.)  But just because it isn’t there doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply.  In fact, it applies now more than ever.

You can find the seven corporal works of mercy listed in the Baltimore Catechism and the Catholic Encyclopedia.  These are the ones I memorized in second grade, thanks to those good nuns who made sure we kids knew Church teaching.

They are to:

1. Feed the hungry
2. Give drink to the thirsty,
3. Clothe the naked,
4. Ransom the captive
5. Harbor the harborless (shelter the homeless)
6. Visit the sick
7. Bury the dead

We cannot buy people out of sex or hard labor slavery today. The people enslaving others keep it hidden as much as possible because it is so lucrative – really dirty money but they get to live very high.  Sometimes their governments protect the slavers.  Pimps are slavers, too, holding their slaves captive by hooking them on drugs and beating them.

Government policies not to negotiate with terrorists negates buying people out of captivity, though private businesses and families have ransomed Somali pirate captives in recent years.  So how can we ransom the captives today?

Ransoming captives is not a thing of the past.

The answer is by fasting and praying, assisting law enforcement in discovering traffickers, pressuring governments to stop human trafficking, speaking out against it wherever we can, sealing our borders and obeying our immigration laws, and helping in rescue efforts if we are able.  We might submit a Mass stipend for the Holy Sacrifice to be offered for an end to human trafficking. Most of us can at least do the fasting and praying part if God has not called us to other ways of combating this dehumanizing crime.

The other slavery we need to ransom others from is slavery to sin. We are all captives of sin unless we struggle daily against the wiles of the devil.  Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, attendance at Mass whenever we can, offering up our pain and suffering for the salvation of souls, frequent Confession, daily prayer – all of these actions are spiritual almsgiving and a work of mercy.

St. John of Matha, pray for us and for all of God’s children who are enslaved physically or spiritually.

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V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Book Review: Susan Boyle – The Woman I Was Born to Be: My Story

In 2009 a short, frumpy-looking, forty-seven year old, single, shy Scottish woman with what appears to be an anxiety disorder took the world by storm in a very good way.  Among pop music lovers, who has not seen Susan Boyle’s first audition for Britain’s Got Talent on YouTube?

After the first few notes you could hear a pin drop as this frizzy-haired lady’s strong, glorious voice mesmerized listeners.  Eyes that rolled when she declared she wanted to be like Elaine Paige widened in wonder only seconds later when she opened her mouth and the first true, beautiful sounds engulfed a sea of hostile listeners.  Susan Boyle became an international celebrity literally overnight as the video of that evening went viral on YouTube.

Susan tells the story of how she was born with oxygen deprivation that doctors said would make her slow at learning.  However, to the delight of her loving family, she was found to have no issues with learning or intelligence level.  She had plenty of trouble in school, though.

From the descriptions in her book, some kind of anxiety disorder affected her ability to do well on exams and shaped her coping behaviors. In any case, her classmates were not kind to her and this exacerbated her extreme shyness.  However, accompanying that shyness is a feisty spirit that has brought Susan to her current celebrity.

“Baby Steps” Are a Key to Success

One thing you can clearly see when reading her story is that her apparent instant success was the result of many “baby steps” - a phrase she uses to describe how she overcame self-doubt and fear on her path to stardom - a path she did not know she was on – many times in her life.

What I was especially glad to learn was that Susan is a devout, practicing Catholic with deep devotion to Our Lady. She mentions trips to Lourdes with her family and visits to Knock in Ireland.  Love of the Faith is in her DNA through the parents God gave her and she often turned to Our Lady for help as she moved forward little by little.

Three Things Worth Noting About Susan Boyle

First, Susan’s journey to musical fame started privately in her bedroom as a child when she found refuge from bullying in song. Later, a neighborhood pub where she started singing for fun in her early twenties became the next “baby step” in her career.  Over the years she was active in local talent groups and competitions, honing her skills while not believing or understanding how good she really was. She was developing her talent from the very beginning without realizing it.  Susan crushes the myth of “overnight success.”

Second, she lived with her family all of her life, and had no sense of purpose although she had a desire to do good for others. Shortly before she died, her mother admonished Susan to “do something with your life.”  Today she is following that admonition with a sense of purpose and determination, aware and awed at how God is using her to bring people together through her voice.

Third, Susan Boyle is a source of hope and inspiration to many people because she has overcome many emotional difficulties and is continuing to learn to cope better with life’s demands. She did not come from a wealthy, well-placed family, but from ordinary people.  She did not have a lot of advantages as some great in their fields have had.  She was not drop-dead gorgeous. She did not have any friends as a child and few as an adult.  Moreover, she was made fun of by others throughout the years, yet she stepped forward to share with the world the gift God has given her.  She shows herself as fully human with all her foibles in a way that people of all ages can identify with, but especially those afflicted with mental and emotional issues. Susan’s life is a message: it’s never too late to discover why God put you on this earth.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. It’s a beautiful story of God’s love for a simple person, told with humor and openness. Be sure to have a hanky nearby because parts of it are very touching.

Click on the link at the top to purchase this book new or used.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

St. Cecelia - 19th century stained glass window from Stationers' Hall, London

Today is the feast of St. Cecelia, the early Roman martyr who proved very difficult to kill.  She is the patron saint of musicians.  Music was a big part of my life for many years and St. Cecelia was always there in the background for me.  She was one of the first women saints I was introduced to as a child and has always been special to me.

Life changes, though, and rather than creating or making music, I now just indulge in my appreciation of it. Writing has become the dominant skill I use most often, but would you believe it, I really don’t like to write.  It takes too much discipline and I’m lazy. I’d rather discuss or talk than write. 

What a terrible thing for a blogger to confess!  Seriously, I think of myself as a teacher, a trainer, an encourager, an information broker, and a perpetual student, but not a writer.

Although I’ve written two short business books, a weekly newspaper column for a business paper, many training manuals and programs, a monthly newsletter since 1999, and other stuff I’ve forgotten about, writing for me is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Perhaps that’s why I don’t think of myself as a writer even though I spend a lot of time thinking about writing when I’m not writing.

So why do I do it almost every day?  Because I am driven to do what Pope John Paul II asked of Catholics – to use the new media to evangelize the world and writing is the only way I can do this now in my life.

Gone are my days of public speaking, conducting training, leading choirs and teaching children, although I still sometimes fantasize about giving talks on Catholic subjects.  No sense in looking back nor in wishing for that which cannot be.  Better to make the most of what is possible with Christ as the center of everything.

Faithful Christians evangelize within the unique context of their past and present, their talents, learning, behavior, their physical and mental capabilities.  We are all called to do this and writing now has become my avenue of reaching out to others to share God’s love of all.  Most especially sharing how I suffer with joy since there is so much suffering in this world and there is no point in wasting any of it by failing to use it as a way to come closer to God.

What about you?  Why do you write?

If you are a blogger or some other kind of writer, why not write a post on this subject and link back here or leave a comment?

Thanks for visiting and God bless you.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Crucifixion, 1524, Breu, Jorg the Elder, b. 1475/76, Augsburg, d. 1537, Augsburg, Wood, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

We have all been deeply saddened by the actions of guilty priests and bishops in the sex scandals of the Catholic Church.  When the media sensationalism dies down in one country it picks up with new scandals elsewhere. This year Ireland, Germany and Belgium have come to the fore.  The filth, as Cardinal Ratzinger referred to it on Good Friday of 2005 seems to be everywhere, and indeed it is.

But what if a priest has been wrongly accused and is totally innocent? What if others who are guilty remained silent when their testimony could have exonerated the priest?  What if those who do speak the truth are discounted as liars without cause?  What if the bishop presumes guilt on false testimony and does nothing to uncover the truth?  What if the bishop uncovers the truth and still does nothing?

These things and much more are documented at the site These Stone Walls – Musings from Prison of a Priest Falsely Accused. The sufferings of Father Gordon J. Macrae paint a horrifying portrait of injustice and persecution few of us could think of enduring.

Prisoners are the unseen and forgotten in our society.  Some of them deserve to be there and some don’t, but they all have souls in need of grace. Please visit These Stone Walls to read Father’s story, what is being done to free him from many years of imprisonment, and inspirational blog posts about how God is working in a New Hampshire prison. Keep Father Macrae in your prayers and pray also that justice be done for him.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Haiti…the beautiful country broken and pillaged for centuries by rapacious, predatory rulers still lies in ruins after January’s earthquakes.  The plight of the Haitians has angered me for years.  It is diabolical that the systems and conditions under which they have lived continue.

Two days ago the AP had a story featured at msn news titled: $900,000 for a 3-bedroom … in Haiti? When I read it I got angry all over again because it shows that nothing has changed.

The greed of the elite continues as people live under tarps in squalid conditions and politicians continue to accumulate wealth while the people starve. The article recounts:

One senator put up his three-bedroom with panoramic views for $15,000 a month. (Its nine Rottweiler guard dogs are free.)

A Haitian born owner has property but will rent only to NGOs. Here’s what you get from him for $15,000 a year payable in advance:

…on the unpaved, easily flooded cross-street numbered Delmas 33, the lower floor of a two-story with dingy, cracked yellow walls and possibly working plumbing rents for $1,250 a month — payable in a lump-sum of $15,000 for the year. Most Haitians, who live on less than $1 a day, could never afford that. But the Haitian-born owner doesn’t want them.

It seems he won’t make the rent affordable to any Haitians.  He likes the money he gets from NGOs. Why the NGOs pay these exorbitant prices I don’t know.  Cui bono besides the landlord?  How?

When the earthquake happened I decided I would give no money to the US government, the UN, or any aid organizations going into Haiti because of it. But I give regularly to Food for the Poor which has had a presence in Haiti for years and runs an orphanage there where I sponsored a child.  Whether he survived the earthquake or not I will never know because his family took him out of the orphanage at age 13 and no doubt, because of poverty, put him to some kind of work, thus ending his education.

The people of Haiti must not be forgotten, but something must be done about the corruption or the disaster will repeat itself.  I don’t personally know what the answer is, but we should pray that a good, Catholic leader arises from the rubble and leads the way. Someone who will live not in luxury but simplicity and who will put his people first.  Someone who will follow the example of Jesus, who was of royal blood but chose to be born in a stable and die for us.

***About Food for the Poor – I like their Christmas gift catalogue.  You can buy cows, goats, sheep, and chickens so people can help themselves and feed their families.  That’s the kind of practicality that attracts me to this organization. One Mother’s Day I gave 20 chicks to a Haitian woman in my mother’s name.  Mom thought it was a great idea because the last thing she needed was any more “stuff”.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Yesterday was another perfect fall day in Missouri.  Just the right temperatures and humidity and glorious sunshine, which made our 3 1/2 hour trip to the Kansas City dental school more than pleasant.  While Roger was driving I worked on editing and proofing a friend’s book set to be published next spring.

Too soon, though, it was time to get into the dentist chair and that’s when my back muscles started seizing up – an effect of fibromyalgia which also affects my leg and butt muscles when I walk the dogs or do any other serious walking.  Now here was a perfect chance to suffer – a lot – for our country’s deliverance from the pro-death crowd, for the salvation of souls, etc. and, I confess, I blew it.

Considering that the visit was for gum surgery in preparation for the new caps and re-engineering of my bite, I was just plain scared that a twitch at the wrong time would send the intern’s scalpel in some very undesirable direction. Especially since this was his first attempt at this procedure on a living patient! So, although the Novocain that I hate was a given to get through the cutting, I chickened out and asked for nitrous oxide in hopes it would stop the cramping in my back. It did, although I don’t know why.

Now I felt guilty and had to apologize to God for not being willing to step up to the plate in what I knew would be a tough challenge without drugs.  Still, there was plenty to offer up as the Novocain wore off on the way home.  Really, I hate that stuff, but the alternative is worse.

Today, I have very little pain and haven’t needed any pain meds.  You can hardly tell any surgery was done. The intern did a great job under the supervision of the faculty periodontist.  No blade went off in the wrong direction.  And it will be six weeks before the next ordeal in this saga.

I couldn’t help but think of little Blessed Jacinta Marto who endured chest surgery without anesthesia on purpose back in 1918. She had taken Our Lady of Fatima’s suggestion to heart: suffer for poor sinners who need to convert and accept the redemption Jesus obtained for them.  No doubt God gave her the grace to endure it. Why couldn’t I do as much?

Have you ever felt that you chickened out of an opportunity to “offer it up”?  Where do we draw the line between taking proper care of our bodies, the temples of the Holy Ghost, and permitting personal suffering for the good of souls and our own spiritual growth?

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Crucifixion c. 1648, Giulio Carpioni, oil on canvas, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

This is the third and last, for a time, article on redemptive suffering, dealing with public and national sin. Father Remler, who wrote Why Must I Suffer? in 1935, talks about God’s patience with sinful man, noting that (p.10):

...He waited a hundred years before He sent the deluge which He had commissioned Noah to announce; He allowed forty years to elapse between the prediction made by Our Lord of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the fulfillment of that prediction by the Romans in the year 70; and He spared the city of Nineveh altogether because its inhabitants immediately left off sinning and hastened to do penance at the preaching of Jonas.

God uses many ways to call us to a right relationship with Him.  It can be through other persons, a work of art or music, a book, or an event of nature or some other means.  He always has the grace ready for us and grants it at our slightest inclination in His direction as St. Faustina wrote in her diary and as he showed St. Therese of Lisieux when she prayed for the condemned man. God is remarkably patient with us, but when sinners grow more bold because their evil deeds have not been chastised at once, eventually the hand of God will descend in justice and the good will suffer along with the bad.

However, we can often trace broad suffering back to their roots, as Father Remler wrote in 1935 (p. 10):

Nor is it always necessary that God send such chastisement for public sins, as He sent the deluge or the destruction of Jerusalem.  There are many sins which contain in themselves the gigantic oak.  If such sins prevail for a sufficiently long time, unchecked and unrepented, they are bound to produce such conditions in the social order as make certain calamities unavoidable.

Take, for example, the sin of godless education, that is, education of youth without religion.  Where such a system has been adopted, the necessary results must be the following: After two or three generations the knowledge of God will disappear more or less completely among the people, the sense of right and wrong will be lost; good will be called evil and evil good; there will be no respect for the moral law; the depravity of youth will grow worse and worse; dishonesty and corruption will prevail in business, in the courts, in the legislature, and in the government itself; taxes will be misappropriated or disappear in the pockets of grafters; heavy expenses will be necessary to maintain the growing number of asylums, juvenile courts, reform schools and prisons; there will be no security to honor property and life; the relations between capital and labor will be strained to the breaking point, so that  violence and bloodshed will become inevitable; family life will be disrupted by adultery, divorce and free love; national rivalries, jealousies and hatreds, provoked by commercial greed, grow more and more intense, until they lead to international wars with their unspeakable misery to millions.  Nations that sow the whirlwind must reap the storm.

Such prescience!  Has he not described our world today almost four generations later?

Consider the example of the poor nation of Haiti.  Was God responsible for the terrible carnage of the earthquake earlier this year? Not at all.  The seeds of destruction and loss of life were sown from before its founding by the colonialists and carried forward by one corrupt and violent, oppressive government. I am old enough to remember news of “Papa Doc” Duvalier and his Ton Ton Macoutes terrorizing the citizens, and the subsequent governments who continued the evil practices that kept their country in fear and poverty.

After the horrendous Great Kanto earthquake in 1923 in Japan, many countries beefed up construction requirements for earthquake zones.  No one can say that such skills as are necessary to design and build earthquake proof structures were not available to Haiti.  It was the graft and corruption of the Haitian government that is ultimately responsible for the death and destruction of the quake.  It cannot be excused.

Another factor we cannot overlook contributing to the Haitian’s post-earthquake plight is the fact that Haiti cannot afford to feed itself. Why not?  Because Bill Clinton, to keep Arkansas rice farmer’s crop prices stable cut a deal with the Haitian government which made the costs for Haitian rice crops too high to sell and importing Arkansas rice attractive.  It was low cost or free to the Haitian government.  Thus, a country with much fertile land and the capability to feed itself was reduced to the status of beggar.  The United States government subsidized (paid for) the Arkansas rice and through corrupt politicians from both countries, ensured increased poverty and international dependency of the Haitians. The United Nations and other countries are involved in preventing self-sufficiency.

Just how long the Haitian people will continue to suffer in unsanitary and starving conditions remains to be seen, but progress is next to nil in clearing the wreckage from the quake and restoring adequate food and water. From this disaster to Hurricane Katrina to the tsunami in Indonesia striking at about the time Terri Schaivo was publicly murdered and Pope John Paul II died, we can see that normal events of nature have been occurring in the extreme and all are afflicted – both innocent and guilty. 

Yes, God permits natural disasters.  He is, after all, the Lord of all. But often these disasters are much worse than would have been necessary because of the need to atone in this world for public and national sins and our failure to do so. When are people everywhere going to stop blaming God and look to their own behavior?

Our world needs many people who will quietly offer up pain and suffering, fasting and praise to God so that a real conversion of heart will happen world wide.  Christians know that God can and does intervene in our lives, and that if He was willing to spare the inhabitants of Sodom if only ten just men were found (Gen. 18: 22-32), we know that small numbers of devout people can bring down God’s grace of conversion on all.  The chastisements due us for public and national sin can be ameliorated by the faithfulness of a few.

And when we find ourselves in a situation such as Haiti, Katrina, and other natural disasters, let us not chafe at the bit of suffering but instead offer it up in atonement for our sins and those of the world – those sins that cannot be expiated in the next world.

Readers, ask your priests to speak on this subject and invite as many people as possible to join in the great work of Christ, redemptive suffering, for deliverance of our country and the world from the grip of the Adversary.  Ask God for the grace to endure joyfully whatever He sends you, knowing that your example can inspire others.

We are all His children.  There is not one whom God does not love and desire to turn to Him with humility and confidence in His mercy and goodness.  Follow the Fatima message of repentance and conversion and pray every day for mercy for this world.

To the King of ages, Who is immortal, invisible, the one only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (Tim. 1: 17).

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

For the previous two articles on public and national sins click on:

Expiating Public and National Sins

A Public and National Sin Requiring Atonement