virtue
Judge Not
August 26, 2011
Today’s meditation in Divine Intimacy illuminates an area most of us cannot escape – that of being judgmental towards others. Outside of having the authority and the grace to judge another person’s behavior because of our position, we sin against charity when we criticize others – even when we don’t voice it but do it in our hearts.
It is one thing to have discernment that an act of another is objectively wrong and quite another to judge the person. The number of opportunities to sin against charity by judging others staggers me. The blabbering on the radio, internet and television, let alone the iPhones and other technologies means the airwaves are carrying all sorts of gossip, rash judgment, and criticism to anyone who presses the “start” button on an electronic gizmo. And the above list doesn’t include what happens at church and in our groups of friends or co-workers.
Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D. writes:
“Judge not, that you may not be judged” (Mt. 7:1). Charity to our neighbor begins with our thoughts, as many of our failings in charity are basically caused by our judgments. We do not think highly enough of others, we do not sufficiently consider their manifest good qualities, we are not benevolent in interpreting their way of acting. Why? Because in judging others, we almost always base our opinion on their faults, especially on those which wound our feelings or which conflict with our own way of thinking and acting, while we give little or no consideration to their good points.
It is a serious mistake to judge persons or things from a negative point of view and it is not even reasonable, because the existence of a negative side proves the presence of a positive quality of something good, just as a tear in a garment has no existence apart from the garment. When we stop to criticize the negative aspect of a person or of a group, we are doing destructive work in regard to our own personal virtue and the good of our neighbor. To be constructive we must overlook the faults and recognize the value of the good qualities that are never wanting in anyone…
St. Teresa of Jesus [Avila] said to her nuns, “Often commend to God any sister who is at fault and strive for your own part to practice the virtue which is the opposite of her fault with great perfection” (Way of Perfection, 7).
Judgment belongs to God; it is reserved to Him alone, for He alone can see into our hearts, can know what motives and intentions make us act as we do….Therefore, anyone who judges another — unless he is obliged to do so by his office, as superiors [parents, supervisors, etc.] — usurps, in a sense, God’s rights and puts himself in the place of God. To presume to judge one’s brethren always implies a proud attitude toward God and toward the neighbor. [These are really scary thoughts.] Besides, one who is quick to judge others lays himself open to committing great errors, because he does not know the intentions of others and has not the sufficient prerequisites for formulating a correct judgment.
In the face of an act which is blameworthy in itself, we are evidently not obliged to consider it good; nevertheless, we must excuse the intention of the one who committed it and not simply attribute it to a perverse will. “If our neighbor’s acts had one hundred facets, we should see only the best one; and then, if the act is blameworthy, we should at least excuse the intention” (St. Teresa Margaret of the Heart of Jesus).
Every day I, too, commit many faults; I too fall into many defects, but this does not signify that all these stem from bad will. My faults are often committed inadvertently, through frailty; and because I detest these failings of mine the Lord continues to love me and wants me to retain complete confidence in His love. he regards others the same as He does me; therefore, I have no right to doubt my neighbor’s good will simply because I see him commit some faults, nor have I the right to diminish, for this reason, my love and esteem for him…
St. Teresa of Avila, Carmelite Monastery, Varroville, NSW, Australia, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The last sentence is a perfect example of why the virtue of charity is so difficult to practice. My stomach grinds at following the precepts above when someone has offended me greatly. It’s much easier to judge the person and carry a grudge than to forgive. The deadly sin of pride is at the bottom of it all, of course. We must recognize in this all too human tendency to judge others harshly the work of the devil to separate us from our focus on Christ. After all, grumbling in our hearts or with our tongues takes time away from focusing on Jesus and our relationship with Him.
St. Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi wrote:
Teach me, O Lord, not to judge my neighbor for any fault I may see him commit, and if I should see him commit a sin, give me the grace to excuse his intention which is hidden and cannot be seen. But even if I should see that his intention was really bad, give me the grace to excuse my neighbor because of temptation, from which no mortal is free.
St. Teresa of Avila on the same subject:
O Lord, help me not to look at anything but at the virtues and good qualities which I find in others and to keep my own grievous sins before my eyes so that I may be blind to their defects. This course of action, though I may not become perfect in it all at once, will help me to acquire one great virtue — to consider all others better than myself. To accomplish this, I must have Your help; when it fails, my own efforts are useless. I beg You to give me this virtue.
Lord, help me develop the habit of commending others to You whenever I am tempted to judge them and gripe about their faults or sins. I want to be in heaven with You some day, and regardless of my feelings about others, I want them to be there with You, too.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival
July 31, 2011
Welcome to RAnn’s Sunday meme where Catholic bloggers share their posts for the week. Visit her blog, This That and the Other Thing, to catch up with interesting posts others have written.
This week I wrote about The Royal Scent of Spikenard.
As I promised last Sunday, I blogged on The Virtue of Religion.
There’s a great religious community serving the indigenous peoples of the Andes called the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World.
From their newsletter I took the story of A Modern Day St. Maria Goretti which I published at the Community of Catholic Bloggers.
My Sabbath Moments consisted of dilled asparagus beans and Japanese beetles.
Prayer from the Seventh Sunday After Pentecost:
O God, Whose providence faileth not in its designs, we humbly entreat Thee: put from us all that might be harmful and give us all that will be profitable. Through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with Thee in the Unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Missionary Servants of the Poor
July 29, 2011
Laus Deo (Praise God)
Yesterday I wrote about the virtue of religion, prompted by the Mass prayer from the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost. A good Christian sincerely wants all people to know, love, and serve God in this world and to spend eternity with Him by living a virtuous life on earth. The virtue of religion is central to this motivation.
This month the newsletter I receive from the Benedictine monastery of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek in Oklahoma contained a letter and an announcement from the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World. Father Giovanni Salerno reveals in his letter a great discovery of the value of the virtue of religion:
For our Missionary Servants of the Poor it is a great privilege to represent the Church and the Holy Father in the midst of the poor. When the missions of the Third World are spoken of, many think that the best way to help the poor is to address their material needs: clothing, medicine, food, etc. In my life as missionary, after forty-six years, I have realized that the greatest gift we can give the poor is God and His divine grace through the Sacraments of the Church.
The Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World was founded to obey the Holy Father John Paul II who told us: “God and serve the poor with empty hands, but with the treasures of the Church.” Because of this our charism is marked by a profound love of the Holy Eucharist, with a tender and filial devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus and all the poor, and an absolute fidelity to the Holy Father and the Magisterium. If we have asked for help from the Benedictine Abbey of Clear Creek, it is not primarily for economic help but for assistance in circulating our newsletter in English so that in this way American youths, full of faith and generosity, might dedicate their lives to God and come to serve the indigenous of the Andes Mountains. We believe that the greatest gift to the needy is God.
…By virtue of our statutes, as Missionary Servants of the Poor, we can ask for collections in any parish or anywhere in the world, but instead we ask for a true conversion in those we meet because there is no greater service to the poor than to provide a deep transformation in ourselves. If we truly focus on this — our own conversions in Christ — the material needs will take care of themselves.
What a great example of having priorities straight! Father Salerno draws the same direct line between the virtue of religion and service to our neighbor as Jesus did when he said in Matt. 22: 35-39:
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
All around us we have the poor. We witness to hope for them when we first, through the virtue of religion, show our love of God and a right relationship with Him and second, when we kindly and lovingly meet their needs.
If you would like to support the Missionaries of the Poor in some way or receive their newsletter, you can contact them here for the United States office at Clear Creek:
Friends of the Missionary Servants of the Poor 5800 W. Monastery Rd. Hulbert, OK 74441
To read an inspiring story from their newsletter visit my post : A Modern Day St. Maria Goretti.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
The Virtue of Religion
July 28, 2011
kneeling in prayer
In last Sunday’s Mass prayer we ask God to “graft in our hearts the Love of Thy name, and grant us an increase of religion….”
What is “religion” and why do we need an increase of it? We don’t hear much if anything about this important virtue, but the lack of it in society today is due to man enthroning himself in the place of God.
The Catholic Encyclopedia says this about the virtue of religion:
Of the three proposed derivations of the word “religion”, that suggested by Lactantius and endorsed by St. Augustine seems perhaps to accord better with the idea than the others. He says it comes from religare, to bind. Thus it would mean the bond uniting man to God.
The notion of it commonly accepted among theologians is that which is found in St. Thomas’s “Summa Theologica”, II-II, Q. lxxxi. According to him it is a virtue whose purpose is to render God the worship due to Him as the source of all being and the principle of all government of things.
There can be no doubt that it is a distinct virtue, not merely a phase of another. It is differentiated from others by its object, which is to offer to Almighty God the homage demanded by His entirely singular excellence. In a loose construction it may be considered a general virtue in so far as it prescribes the acts of other virtues or requires them for the performance of its own functions.
It is not a theological virtue, because its immediate object is not God, but rather the reverence to be paid to Him. Its practice is indeed often associated with the virtues of faith and charity. Still the concordant judgment of theologians puts it among the moral virtues, as a part of the cardinal virtue justice, since by it we give God what is due to Him.
St. Thomas teaches that it ranks first among moral virtues. A religious attitude towards God is essentially the product of our recognition, not only of His sovereign majesty, but also of our absolute dependence on Him. Thus, as Father Rickaby says, He is not merely “the Great Stranger”, our behavior towards whom must be invested with awe and admiration; He is besides our Creator and Master and, in virtue of our supernatural filiation in the present order of things, our Father. Hence we are bound to cherish habitually towards Him sentiments of adoration, praise, thanksgiving, loyalty, and love.
Such a demeanor of soul is inexorably required by the very law of our being…. Our composite nature [body and soul ] needs to express itself by outward acts in which the body as well as the soul shall have a part — this not only to spur on our inner feelings, but also because God owns us body and soul, and it is right that both should show their fealty to Him. This is the justification of external religion. [Kneeling, bowing, walking in procession, making the sign of the Cross, etc.]
Of course God does not need our worship, whether interior or exterior, and it is puerile to impugn it on that score. We cannot by our homage add anything to His glory….It is not because it is strictly speaking of use to Him that we render it, but because He is infinitely worthy of it, and because it is of tremendous value to ourselves.
The chief acts of this virtue are adoration, prayer, sacrifice, oblation, vows; the sins against it are neglect of prayer, blasphemy, tempting God, sacrilege, perjury, simony, idolatry, and superstition.
In this time after Pentecost, the time of the Holy Spirit, practicing the virtue of religion causes the gift of piety to blossom, leading to those good works on behalf of our neighbor that a generous heart offers for the glory of God.
My next post is about the relationship between the virtue of religion and missionary work. Please join me to hear from a priest who has spent 46 years among the indigenous peoples of the Andes.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
Sabbath Moments
July 23, 2011
Awareness of God
Welcome to the Sabbath Moments meme hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace. Visit her to read other Catholic bloggers’ moments this week when they rested in the Lord or when they recognized God in the ordinary.
This week we pulled up the zucchini because it wasn’t producing and, in spite of my spraying, was infested with squash bugs. The southwest Missouri heat this year has been carrying on much higher and much longer than any year since we moved here in 1993, so the plants had a lot against them. It reminds me that Jesus said the bad fig tree would have to be cut down and thrown into the fire. If we associate with people who are giving themselves over to sin (the squash beetles), go to places that lead us to sin (the excessive and enduring heat), we are going to be torn up and thrown into the fire (hell). Even my veggie garden has the lessons about how to live.
Yesterday, just as Roger and I started to gather veggies, rain started pouring down. We stayed outside and got soaking wet, enjoying ourselves to the utmost while we picked the fruit of our labors. I was thanking God for the rain and enjoying myself immensely, knowing that all those negative ions in the rain were doing something good for us and the plants. Plus, getting wet in the rain is just plain fun. I guess I’ve never grown up. The kids across the street were playing outside in the rain, too. We do have to release our inner child sometimes, don’t we?
Every day I read a life of the saint of the day from the Lives of the Saints by Father Alban Butler, from TAN books. This week we celebrated the feast of St. Vincent de Paul. He is a great example of a manly man. He grew up in a family of pig farmers, guarding his father’s pigs. Shortly after his ordination to the priesthood, he was captured by pirates and carried off to the Barbary coast as a slave where he converted his master and fled with him to France. Not long after that, he was appointed the chaplain-general of the galleys where he spread hope and joy among the prisoners. On one occasion he took on a prisoner’s chains so that he could be released to his mother, serving out the sentence for him.
Like our modern day Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, he saw the face of Christ in the poor and suffering. St. Vincent went into the streets of Paris to gather the children left there to die like Mother Teresa went into the streets of Calcutta to gather the dying. He taught the rich to do works of mercy and founded the daughters of Charity.
I’ve thought a lot about St. Vincent this week. He is one of the incorruptibles. God’s favor on his life is a body that didn’t decay in death and is a lesson that purity in a man is saintly, not wimpy. He died in 1660, which is a long time not to have been turned into dust.
To me, St. Vincent is a great example of someone who made the most of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. He inspires me to do my best in my circumstances. I won’t do the great things he did, but I can do quiet, small things greatly by following his example.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
How The Holy Spirit Works In Us
July 19, 2011
Last week in Confirmation for Young Children? I wrote that the time after Pentecost is the time of the Holy Spirit. In The Action of the Holy Spirit I quoted Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene who wrote regarding the Holy Spirit: “He elevated us to the supernatural state.” This means we are capable of performing supernatural acts because He has entered our souls to strengthen our intellect and will. Traditional Catholic terminology refers to the intellect and will as “powers”. Out of all creation, only angels and men have these powers.
At Baptism we received by the power of the Holy Spirit the infused divine virtues of faith, hope, and charity, which we call the theological virtues because they concern our relationship with God.
Divine Faith
We believe in God and the truths that He has revealed (faith). This isn’t a halfway belief, either. It’s not an “if I understand it fully I’ll believe” kind of thing. It’s a “whether I understand or not, if God says it’s true, I firmly believe it and will seek understanding.” (Understanding is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit we receive at Confirmation, but we’ll talk about that another time.) We don’t need to understand everything to exercise the theological virtue of faith. We only need an act of will. Exercising this divine virtue of faith is also a first step in acquiring the virtue of humility. Without being meek and humble of heart, we cannot be like Jesus.
Divine Hope
We hope in God – that He is true to His word; that He will give us eternal life and the means to obtain it. God wants all of us to be with Him in eternity – we were created for heaven. He never sets us up for failure. If we end up in hell, it’s because we have blocked His generous graces. We have forestalled the work of the Holy Spirit in our souls to the point that we are permanently blind. He will always give us the means to enjoy life with Him forever, but it is up to us to accept those means.
Divine Charity
Divine charity is loving God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbors as ourselves for the love of God. The theological virtue of charity is not a mushy, squishy, sentimental feeling. With divine charity we would rather lose even our lives rather than offend Him by sin. (Think St. Maria Goretti here.) We get to this point of commitment by seeing God as His all wise, all good, and all beautiful self, deliberately setting aside time to think about Him and pray to Him. Part of getting there is also passionately desiring our neighbor’s good, both here on earth and for eternity because we love God and even when we don’t like the person.
The Moral Virtues
The Holy Spirit also infuses the moral virtues of justice, temperance, and fortitude in us. Here’s what the Catholic Encyclopedia says about the moral virtues:
As the proper function of the moral virtues is to rectify the appetitive powers, i.e. to dispose them to act in accordance with right reason, there are principally three moral virtues: justice, which perfects the rational appetite or will; fortitude and temperance, which moderate the lower or sensuous appetite. Prudence, as we have observed, is called a moral virtue, not indeed essentially, but by reason of its subject matter, inasmuch as it is directive of the acts of the moral virtues.
Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D. writes in Divine Intimacy:
But the Holy Spirit does not stop there; like a good teacher, He continues to help us in our work, urging us to do good and sustaining our efforts.
He invites us by His interior inspirations, as well as by exterior means, especially Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church….[Meditation] on the sacred texts is somewhat like “attending the school” of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit continually teaches us and stimulates us to do good by the living word of the Church….
If we listen to the inspirations of the divine Paraclete and accept His invitations, He unites Himself to us, aiding us by actual graces, so that we are able to perform virtuous acts. It is clear, therefore, that even when the spiritual life is in its first stages, and is concentrated on the correcting of faults and acquiring of virtues, the activity of the soul is entirely permeated and sustained by the action of the Holy Spirit.
It took me awhile to understand why St. Bernadette Soubirous would say that of herself she could only do evil. Understanding how the Holy Spirit works in us helped me see that all the good that we do is inspired by Him, and that the concupiscence of our nature from original sin makes us, of ourselves, incapable of even thinking about doing good.
Our God is truly an awesome God. His love and mercy towards us endures forever.
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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. Henry, Emperor
July 15, 2011
Tomb of St. Henry, Emperor
Today’s feast in the 1962 liturgical calendar is St. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who became one of the early Holy Roman Emperors, Otto being the first in 962.
Early in life he was a man of prayer and experienced supernatural visions. As emperor he sought to reign for the honor and glory of God, spreading Christianity throughout Europe. In a battle with the Slavs he was victorious with a much smaller army because they saw large numbers of angels and saints leading his troops and fled. Poland, Bohemia, Moravia, Burgundy, Hungary and Pannonia became united under his rule and Christian as well.
After settling an Antipope situation and bringing Benedict VIII back to Rome, he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by that pontiff in 1014. The night before his coronation St. Henry spent in prayer at St. Mary Major and saw Jesus Christ enter to offer Mass with St. Lawrence as deacon. He saw the entire church crowded with angels and saints, the angels singing gloriously.
During the remaining years of his rule he built many cathedrals, churches and monasteries, providing instruction in the faith to all the peoples under him. He died in 1022.
In retrospect, it’s easy to see that God used St. Henry to spread Christianity throughout middle and eastern Europe and the Balkans. In every age God raises up those who will spread His truth even though we may not recognize it at the time. Today with Europe effectively dropping its Christian heritage down a deep well, God is still in charge and will provide the right leaders to “restore all things in Christ” – Pope St. Pius X’s motto.
Another very interesting fact about St. Henry is that he entered into an arranged marriage with St. Cunegunda as was common in noble families, but both remained virgins, something today’s world would scoff at. From reading their life stories I’m sure it was because they both agreed to sublimate the flesh for the spiritual good of others. Because of that both were able to accomplish great things for the spread of Christianity. It’s a sacrifice few would be willing to make in today’s sex-soaked society.
I think that the more unusual the sacrifice God asks of us, the greater the work is that He is asking of us. Certainly virginity within marriage falls into the category of unusual sacrifice. We can always be confident, though, that He gives all the necessary graces to fulfill His will. God never sets His children up for failure.
I also wonder if all politicians and businessmen were to spend entire nights on their knees in prayer before engaging in significant work as St. Henry did, how much holier, just, and truly charitable would our world be?
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Through Resentment to Forgiveness
February 21, 2011
Father Lovasik’s book, The Hidden Power of Kindness: A Practical Handbook for Souls Who Dare to Transform the World, One Deed at a Time
If you desire to obtain from God the pardon of the sins you have committed against Him, you must forgive from your heart those who have offended you. What is more, you must pray for them even as Jesus did. This is the greatest act of charity.
For me, this is a tall order. The more I have sunk my time, energy, and commitment to something or someone, the harder it is to forgive people who have done their best to obstruct my work or attacked me personally. Also, as I look at people like certain of our political leaders who so arrogantly advance the culture of death, I really struggle with the act of praying for them. I know that to them I am disposable, and so are others like me. I resent how they strip me of my human dignity, just as they do to every aborted child and every euthanized adult or child. How difficult it is to pray for someone we are angry with!
Father Lovasik reduces overcoming this problem to simple steps we can actually accomplish. It doesn’t mean that conquering our resentment will be an easy fight; we can work something over for years. The important thing is that regardless of our feelings, we do the right thing. That’s what heroic virtue is made of.
Here are his suggestions for developing virtue when we most want to retaliate.
Bear injustice patiently. [This is one of the seven spiritual works of mercy.] When it pleases God to permit you to labor under the cloud of false suspicion, false judgment, calumny, or detraction, try to remember the following suggestions:
Try to see God’s permission of the happening. St. Francis de Sales gives this advice: “We must have patience not only to be ill, but to be ill with the illness which God wills, in the place where He wills, and among such persons as He wills; and so of our tribulations.” Try to avoid thinking of the grievance. “Love is patient.” (1 Cor. 13:14) Concentrating on wrongs done to you generally impresses the undesirable facts more deeply on your memory and does not obviate the evil. Complete abandonment to God and trust in His Providence form the most worthy procedure for your soul.
St. Francis de Sales in His Study, 1760, Peter Anton Lorenzoni, Saint Sigismund parish church in Strobl, Salzburg, Austria, Wikimedia
Do not talk the matter over with others [This is extraordinarily difficult for some of us. I want to blab the injustice to everybody I know.] except for the purpose of getting direction to make virtue out of necessity. Other persons seldom understand adequately…. Learn to bear snubs, setbacks, and sharp tongues nobly with Christ at Herod’s court. Justice will prevail. God will right all wrongs, if not in this life, then surely at the Last Judgment.
Pray for the grace of conversion for failing ones. Unless the erring ones are incorrigibly obstinate or hopelessly blind [Planned Parenthood?] they will, by the grace of God [Abby Johnson] be brought to a salutary realization of their wrongdoing through patience on your part.
Let this cross be a source of self-sanctification rather than torture for your soul. Offer the pain you must suffer in expiation for sin — your own as well as those of others — and also for blessings upon those who have been unfair to you.
Find strength and consolation in prayer. You need God’s grace to make any difficulty a means of greater personal holiness. Prayer secures that grace. You can conquer anything with God’s grace, but nothing without it. Your prayer need not be long, but brief and definite…. Pray for the checking of the moral evils so prevalent even among Catholics.
Cultivate the devotion of reparation to the Sacred Heart. Ask Jesus, the forbearing and long-suffering Savior, for a tolerant frame of mind regarding the actions of others. Ask Him for the power to influence others, especially through your example, to put aside their undesirable habits. Ask for the grace to remember that others exercise much patience with you. [My husband comes to mind here. He is very patient with me!] Especially, ask Jesus crucified for a practical and more perfect understanding of His great example in forgiving, so that you may learn to bear with others.
Father Lovasik’s words make me think that maybe this Lent would best be spent by me concentrating on this one spiritual work of mercy. We have been given the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost at Confirmation. Two of the twelve fruits of this indwelling are “long-suffering” and “mildness.” It isn’t easy to harvest these fruits, but striving to do so creates great adventures on the road to perfection.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Sabbath Moments
February 12, 2011
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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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Something to Chew On for Advent
December 6, 2010 – Feast of St. Nicholas, Patron of Russia
Magnificat Antiphon for the Second Sunday of Advent (Divine Office, Vespers):
Behold there shall come the Lord and King of the earth * and He shall take away our yoke of bondage.
This antiphon contains parts of the Rorate caeli desuper I covered yesterday.
*****
From my Advent reading, the book The Hidden Power of Kindness: A Practical Handbook for Souls Who Dare to Transform the World, One Deed at a Time
To do good to others in the hope that, in turn, our Lord will be good to you is a supernatural motive, even if it is self-centered. To do good to others with the consciousness that Christ asks it of you is less egoistic. To do good to others because you are convinced that Christ will consider it as having been done to Him personally is a sign of pure love of God. To do good to others because thereby you can please God, and you want to give Him the best you can, is perfect love of God.
Three Miracles of Zenobius, 1500-05, Sandro Botticelli (b. 1445, Firenze, d. 1510, Firenze), tempera on panel, Metropolitan Museum of New York
In front of an astonished crowd, St. Zenobius raises a young man already lying on his bier from the dead. He also saves a man who fell from his horse while transporting the relics of saints. The scene in the interior shows St. Zenobius healing his sick deacon. The latter gets up immediately in order to use the water St. Zenobius has blessed to bring a dead relative back to life. For enlargement, visit the Web Gallery of Art.
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Wrongly Accused and Imprisoned
November 3, 2010
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.
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Advancing the Reign of Christ Here and Now
August 20, 2010
For some time now I’ve been moved to start something at this blog, regardless of the subject of the post. It has to do with Christ the King.
Christ in Glory, 1597-98, oil on canvas, Annibale Carracci (b.1560, Bologna, d. 1609, Roma), Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence
Few people would deny that the world is against God or that many people who claim to be Christians twist the Word of God to suit their own agenda which often masquerades as “social justice” which always seems to create more injustice, not less. You would have to be a sleeping Rip van Winkle not to see that this is the most godless age ever in the history of the world since God called Abraham – or even maybe before. Since the beginning of the age of enlightenment man has steadily become more homocentric as opposed to theocentric. The heresy of modernism has, since its spawning in the 19th century, greatly facilitated this trend. Sadly, many in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church have become infected to the point of over-emphasizing the horizontal aspect of worship at the expense of the vertical dimension and social work at the expense of spiritual growth.
Interwoven with the de-emphasis on the first three commandments we can see that doctrinal truth has been sacrificed at the expense of ideology of all kinds. Natural law is violated without regard to the consequences. “If it feels good, do it!” is a prevailing mantra which originated in the 1960s and has become the rule of life for many today.
Inconvenient truths in many places simply are not taught, such as contraception being a grave offense against God. Priests have been punished for speaking the truths of the Faith from their pulpits and in their parish bulletins while other priests who speak falsely are rewarded. I have direct experience with a bishop who opposed the Pope and Catholic tradition on a number of issues and earned a very bad name for myself among his supporters. It seems the word “obey” applied only to those of us he strove to corrupt and not to himself. But we cannot obey unjust commands from anyone, which is why some Catholic dioceses are shutting down Catholic adoption agencies, for example. The state demands same-sex couples be allowed to adopt children into a life style opposing the very clear will of God as spoken in sacred scripture, and the Church cannot act opposite to her teachings.
The answer to the corruption of the world
On Facebook and other places you can find groups dedicated to the “Social Reign of Jesus Christ.” That is an admirable and desired end for the world, but Christ must rule in every heart first. If our Savior does not reign in our hearts, our actions will not be congruent with His words. It is up to each individual to examine his conscience daily on the subject of whether he is putting God first and not himself. Only when sufficient numbers of Christians really put Christ first in their hearts, when they ruthlessly root out attachments to their own wills, when they are willing to stand up and live the Two Great Commandments – not just the one, will we have anything approximating the “Social Reign of Jesus Christ.” No doubt, as in the past, we will have many martyrs spilling their blood before this comes to pass, if it ever does in this life.
The difficulty of achieving the preeminence of Christ in this life is no reason for any of us to shirk doing battle with ourselves. Many useful practices and devotions are available to help us, bringing graces upon our souls that strengthen us in fortitude, for the virtue of fortitude is most necessary to fight the human inclination to want to be liked, to blend in and do what everybody else is doing, and to talk and think like the majority – and the majority is not and has not been for Christ in centuries.
We are the servants of the Lord. The servant is not above his Master (Matt. 10: 24). Standing up for Christ is an invitation to get publicly clobbered by the many who want to enforce their self-originated version of truth. But we need not fear the majority because Jesus tells us in Matthew 10: 26-31:
Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
And in Matthew 10: 32-33 we hear the glorious promise to those of us who stand strong against the world:
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
In the times of Ruth and Boaz, the people had a custom of greeting one another with the phrase, Dominus vobiscum (tecum), meaning “The Lord be with you.” The response was, “The Lord bless you.” Today at Mass we hear “The Lord be with you” many times, and we respond, “And with your spirit.” I do not intend to go into the theology of this today, but simply wish to use this as an illustration of one practice people used in Old Testament times to keep the Lord in mind, a practice that is enshrined within our sacred liturgy today.
In religious communities in the 1960s and before, the common greeting when meeting someone in the halls or entering a room was the phrase, “Praised be Jesus Christ.” The answer was, “Now and forever.” I don’t know if this practice is still observed, but I am convinced that if Christians greeted each other this way every time we meet, it would be a big help towards the world being brought back into a right relationship with God.
To do my part in witnessing to the supremacy of Christ the King and to building the virtue of fortitude in my soul, I am going to try to remember to end each blog post with this phrase regardless of the subject. I trust that this practice will keep my posts on track with pure intentions and charity, and that it will always be a reminder to me to suffer with joy. I will explain the “Amen” addition in another post. Will anyone stand with me? I invite you all.
V. Praised be Jesus Christ.
R. Now and forever. Amen.
Sabbath Moments
May 6, 2010
Every Saturday Colleen at Thoughts on Grace hosts the Sabbath Moments feature where fellow bloggers get together to share the moments of the week when we have “rested in the Lord.” Please visit Colleen and join us.
I’ve been contemplating what the effect of joining memes like “Sabbath Moments” has on my spiritual life. What comes to mind is the image of the early Christians being dragged off to the lions in the Roman Coliseum, encouraging each other all the way. The coliseum of this world is full of roaring lions designed to distract us from our one job – to stay on the narrow road through the narrow gate to Paradise. Fellow bloggers who share so openly their spiritual insights are really inspiring to me. Nobody is out there working big miracles. We are all simple souls using simple means who just keep urging each other along to stay focused on the prize. To me, this, and they are priceless.
Nobility of Spirit
My Sabbath Moment for this week is the time I spent today thinking about St. Michael the Archangel. Today is the feast of his apparition on Mount Gargano in Italy. St. Michael was created in the second lowest choir of all the angels – the Archangels. His place or status in the heavenly realm didn’t make any difference to him when it came to standing up to Lucifer, who was of a much higher choir. His nobility of spirit shone.
In human terms, I think of St. Michael as the best street fighter in the biggest revolution in creation. True, he was the five-star general of God’s army, but the battle took place in the “streets” of heaven. That he could get angels from every level to join him in humility and love of God to take on the most brilliant angel created is a testament to his nobility of spirit.
From the time of our birth we are engaged in one long street fight against Satan and all his deceits. We need the help of St. Michael always at our side along with our Guardian Angels to inspire us to take up our arms, rise when wounded, and persevere through the din, heat, and smoke created by the enemy. We need to share in St. Michael’s nobility of spirit to be successful. Fortunately, by the grace of God nobility of spirit is accessible to everyone no matter what our station in life is. St. Michael, whose name means “Who is like unto God” shows us the meaning of this nobility. It is humility, dignity, truthfulness, justice and charity, fulfilling the purpose for which we were created – to glorify God now and for all eternity. Thank You, God for St. Michael and thank You for this Sabbath Moment.
Sabbath Moments
May 1, 2010
Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. Visit Colleen at Thoughts on Grace to read about the Sabbath moments others have had this week.
Keeping Life in Perspective
Throughout Paschaltide a Chapter reading at Lauds in the Divine Office causes me to stop and think about our destination in the next world. It is St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, 3:1-2:
If you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Mind the things that are above, not the things that are on earth.
Nearly every morning this week after I finished praying my Rosary, I contemplated his words for awhile as the fresh breezes of late April blew through my window and the birds twittered happily about their morning business. To me, St. Paul is urging us to keep our minds on heavenly things and not get caught up in earthly concerns as an end in themselves. His words encourage us to “do all things in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4: 13). If we follow them we practice the virtue of detachment, we keep our lives simple, and we go about our daily duties without being obsessed with power, approbation, wealth and possessions.
Christ in Glory, 1597-98, oil on canvas, Annibale Carracci (b.1560, Bologna, d. 1609, Roma), Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence
St. Paul is saying to keep everything in perspective as if we were somehow seeing through God’s eyes. He is not telling us to neglect our daily duties nor turn aside from the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. We are in this world because God created us and we work out our salvation through this world, but always as St. Paul urges, with the Grand Prize (Acts 17: 11) of heaven in mind. Moreover, his words say that God is always in charge and imply the necessity to do our best while trusting Him in everything. For myself, I’ll know that I have perfect trust in God when I quit worrying about “the things that are on earth.”
Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival
February 6, 2010
Welcome to Sunday Snippets where Catholic bloggers can read each other’s favorite posts for the week. All are welcome. If you’re not a blogger but you want to see what others have to say, click on the Sunday Snippets and go visit RAnn, our great hostess, where you’ll find a bit about the partying in New Orleans this weekend and see links to other Catholic blogs.
This week I opened a custom Amazon store where you’ll find my hand-picked recommendations on books, CDs and DVDs about Our Lady, the saints, and the Catholic faith. If you shop online, please visit my store. You can not only buy my recommendations, but you can search for anything you need from Amazon. Shopping from here helps me keep this site going. You can find the store tab at the top of the page or click on the custom shop on the sidebar.
If you love art or photography, you like my post on beauty which has a link to an absolutely fantastic Japanese photographer. I’ve been relaxing by looking at his work. Yes, I am a Japanophile. Can’t help it. A Korean lady told me this week that I have an Asian mind. Don’t know about that but I appreciated the compliment.
If you want to see some great photos of hoar frost, I posted the work hubby and I did when God blessed us with a stunning display this week.
Forgiveness is a tough virtue to acquire and St. Jane of Valois was an expert. If you’re a Catholic trivia nut, there’s some about St. Jane and the Angelus here.
Do you like Carthusians or want to see a great spiritual website? I found one thanks to an FSSP priest. Secret Harbor is really beautiful and I put links to some fantastic frescos of Carthusian founder Saint Bruno that I discovered when I was looking for a picture of him. It was a great trip to Italy thanks to the web.
Lastly, I posted a couple of articles at Helium.
1. Reflections: seeing God with a pure heart
2. Is there really such a thing as purgatory?
It’s been a busy week. Please keep me in your prayers as I move towards some personal goals. And for Super Bowl fans, have a good time.
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