Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints
and with Thy angels
Forever and ever
Amen
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Swine
Brendan- Interesting post. I didn't really think this thing was that serious, I didn't know why people were so worried.
A quick note:
The Swine flue may become pandemic which is even worse the epidemic.
Check out this article though.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/27/pandemic.next/index.html
It's scary:
"The disease would skip from city to city over an 18-to-24 month period, infecting more than a third of the population. World health Organization officials believe as many as 1.5 billion people around the globe would seek medical care and nearly 30 million would seek hospitalization. Based on the last pandemic and current world population, as many as 7 million people could die, epidemiologists said.
"Hospitals will become overcrowded, schools will close, businesses will close, airports will be empty," Dr. Lo said.
"Business will become very bad, as people avoid as much social contact as possible," added Dr. Yuen.
Health facilities will become overrun with patients and there would be less-than-adequate staffing, as medical health professionals fall ill themselves, experts say. "We saw cases in SARS where people who should have gone to the hospital for things like cancer treatment didn't go, and that resulted in higher deaths," Dr. Lo said."
A quick note:
The Swine flue may become pandemic which is even worse the epidemic.
Check out this article though.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/27/pandemic.next/index.html
It's scary:
"The disease would skip from city to city over an 18-to-24 month period, infecting more than a third of the population. World health Organization officials believe as many as 1.5 billion people around the globe would seek medical care and nearly 30 million would seek hospitalization. Based on the last pandemic and current world population, as many as 7 million people could die, epidemiologists said.
"Hospitals will become overcrowded, schools will close, businesses will close, airports will be empty," Dr. Lo said.
"Business will become very bad, as people avoid as much social contact as possible," added Dr. Yuen.
Health facilities will become overrun with patients and there would be less-than-adequate staffing, as medical health professionals fall ill themselves, experts say. "We saw cases in SARS where people who should have gone to the hospital for things like cancer treatment didn't go, and that resulted in higher deaths," Dr. Lo said."
Monday, April 27, 2009
Water Continued
Kenny:
A few scriptural points:
The verse you quoted is actually not the Samaritan Woman at the well although it’s nearly identical.
In John 4 Jesus tells the woman at the well:
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life”
It’s important to know that after this, in the next 2 chapters Jesus begins to reveal his identity:
“I am the bread of life”- John 6
“It is the spirit that gives life…the words I have spoken are spirit and life. No one can come to me unless the father beckons”- John 6
Then (note this is all chronological) John 7: 37
“Jesus stood up and exclaimed: Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scriptures say, ‘rivers of living water will flow from within him’. He said this in reference to the Spirit”. I think the ‘rivers of living water will flow from within him’ comes from Isaiah.
Anyway, I think Jesus said that we need to be baptized by “water and the spirit” because we need a tangibles. Jesus always gives us tangibles. We need normal everyday things (like water/bread etc.) to accompany these mysteries. Also, water is the perfect thing because it is a cleansing and purifying agent as well as life-giving and life-sustaining!
But, it’s not only an act of symbolism- it’s a direct encounter with the Holy Spirit thus an encounter with the Trinitarian God. “Because that is the great mystery into which we are called” (Bailie).
At the baptism of Jesus it says, “When he came out of the water the Holy Spirit descended from the sky” I think this is also identification because God says, “you are my beloved son and I am well pleased”. God, the almighty creator, is identifying Jesus as a beloved son!
I think John the Baptism said that to emphasize that Jesus is the savior. John the Baptism simply, “prepared the way” for Jesus.
“You my child shall be called the prophet of the most high for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way, to give people a knowledge of salvation by the Forgiveness of their sins. From the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide our feet to the way of peace”
Canticle of Zachariah- (and to think Zachariah hadn’t spoke in months and then he busts into this awesome poem!)
Blood and water represents humanity and divinity.
In the mass…
"By this mingling of water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity”
Again, I think water (that flowed from his side) represents purification and life even on the cross, and the blood represents saving and mercy. Also, the liquids represent a universal ‘baptism’ because the water gushed form and spilled “on to everyone”.
I’m thirsty for actual water and for an encounter with Jesus.
And I love watersheds.
A few scriptural points:
The verse you quoted is actually not the Samaritan Woman at the well although it’s nearly identical.
In John 4 Jesus tells the woman at the well:
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life”
It’s important to know that after this, in the next 2 chapters Jesus begins to reveal his identity:
“I am the bread of life”- John 6
“It is the spirit that gives life…the words I have spoken are spirit and life. No one can come to me unless the father beckons”- John 6
Then (note this is all chronological) John 7: 37
“Jesus stood up and exclaimed: Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scriptures say, ‘rivers of living water will flow from within him’. He said this in reference to the Spirit”. I think the ‘rivers of living water will flow from within him’ comes from Isaiah.
Anyway, I think Jesus said that we need to be baptized by “water and the spirit” because we need a tangibles. Jesus always gives us tangibles. We need normal everyday things (like water/bread etc.) to accompany these mysteries. Also, water is the perfect thing because it is a cleansing and purifying agent as well as life-giving and life-sustaining!
But, it’s not only an act of symbolism- it’s a direct encounter with the Holy Spirit thus an encounter with the Trinitarian God. “Because that is the great mystery into which we are called” (Bailie).
At the baptism of Jesus it says, “When he came out of the water the Holy Spirit descended from the sky” I think this is also identification because God says, “you are my beloved son and I am well pleased”. God, the almighty creator, is identifying Jesus as a beloved son!
I think John the Baptism said that to emphasize that Jesus is the savior. John the Baptism simply, “prepared the way” for Jesus.
“You my child shall be called the prophet of the most high for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way, to give people a knowledge of salvation by the Forgiveness of their sins. From the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide our feet to the way of peace”
Canticle of Zachariah- (and to think Zachariah hadn’t spoke in months and then he busts into this awesome poem!)
Blood and water represents humanity and divinity.
In the mass…
"By this mingling of water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity”
Again, I think water (that flowed from his side) represents purification and life even on the cross, and the blood represents saving and mercy. Also, the liquids represent a universal ‘baptism’ because the water gushed form and spilled “on to everyone”.
I’m thirsty for actual water and for an encounter with Jesus.
And I love watersheds.
Prodigal Sons
The current scare of a swine flu pandemic brings to mind the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke's Gospel. I think that trends in our society are basically rooted in the prodigal son mentality; the idea of finding freedom with out God and the anything goes mentality. We know where the prodigal son ends up, tending the swine. If we hang out with the swine long enough we're bound to catch some of their diseases. Could this be a wake up call to return to the Father? We know what His response will be:
While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. LK 15:20
While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. LK 15:20
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Water and the Spirit
Interesting, Dan.
I talked about that on the retreat in reference to "Ripple", by the Grateful Dead. The song includes the lines "Let it be known, there is a fountain / that was not made by the hands of men". I said, in different words, that this uncreated fountain is the uncreated Life of God, and that Jesus is this uncreated Life - he was "begotten not made". And I read the passage about the woman at the well you mention here. "Believe in me and living water will flow from within you".
I remember that Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth sorts through and reveals all of the symbolism from John's Gospel. I remember him going through the constant symbols of water, bread, wine, and blood.
You say that you discuss in your talk about water as a referent to the Holy Spirit. My question is, why would Jesus say that we need to be baptized of "water and the Holy Spirit"? Why did John the Baptist say "I baptize you only with water, He who will come after me will baptize you wiht the Holy Spirit"? Why does our liturgy make the distinction that water and blood came from Christ's side at the Crucifixion? What is the full significance of the major liquid symbols (water, blood, wine) and what are the distinctions between them?
I talked about that on the retreat in reference to "Ripple", by the Grateful Dead. The song includes the lines "Let it be known, there is a fountain / that was not made by the hands of men". I said, in different words, that this uncreated fountain is the uncreated Life of God, and that Jesus is this uncreated Life - he was "begotten not made". And I read the passage about the woman at the well you mention here. "Believe in me and living water will flow from within you".
I remember that Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth sorts through and reveals all of the symbolism from John's Gospel. I remember him going through the constant symbols of water, bread, wine, and blood.
You say that you discuss in your talk about water as a referent to the Holy Spirit. My question is, why would Jesus say that we need to be baptized of "water and the Holy Spirit"? Why did John the Baptist say "I baptize you only with water, He who will come after me will baptize you wiht the Holy Spirit"? Why does our liturgy make the distinction that water and blood came from Christ's side at the Crucifixion? What is the full significance of the major liquid symbols (water, blood, wine) and what are the distinctions between them?
Sun Spell
This heat is intense. I always seem to forget how powerful the summer is and how powerful (even opressive) the heat can become.
--
On a different note, I spent some time this morning writing a talk for my youth group (only about 10 minutes in lenght) about the "Spirituality of Water". I found it to be really interesting and while highlighting 2 scriptural passages (Jacob's well- the Samarian Woman and the "Those who drink of me will have a water of life flowing through them") I realized how closely Jesus indentifies the work of the Holy Spirit with water. He says water, or the spirit, will flow "through you" and presumabely, into or towards others (wellspring). I like the idea of Holy Spirit as overflow.
My basic outline:
1. Water is a force of desctruction (floods)
ALso lack of water as source of destructino (drought)
2. Water is Purification
"Lord cleans me of my sins, and wash me of my iniquities)
3. Water as Holy Spirit- as live giving- as wellspring
4. Water in Sacraments
5. Water in Liturgy
"Through this mingling of water and wine, may we come to share in His divinity"
among many other instances...
6. Water that gushed forth from the side of JEsus on the cross.
"let them come to Water"
h20!
--
On a different note, I spent some time this morning writing a talk for my youth group (only about 10 minutes in lenght) about the "Spirituality of Water". I found it to be really interesting and while highlighting 2 scriptural passages (Jacob's well- the Samarian Woman and the "Those who drink of me will have a water of life flowing through them") I realized how closely Jesus indentifies the work of the Holy Spirit with water. He says water, or the spirit, will flow "through you" and presumabely, into or towards others (wellspring). I like the idea of Holy Spirit as overflow.
My basic outline:
1. Water is a force of desctruction (floods)
ALso lack of water as source of destructino (drought)
2. Water is Purification
"Lord cleans me of my sins, and wash me of my iniquities)
3. Water as Holy Spirit- as live giving- as wellspring
4. Water in Sacraments
5. Water in Liturgy
"Through this mingling of water and wine, may we come to share in His divinity"
among many other instances...
6. Water that gushed forth from the side of JEsus on the cross.
"let them come to Water"
h20!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Shrine of the North American Martyrs
The Shrine of the North American Martyrs is in Auriesville, NY, just south of the Adirondack Mountains. We could camp and hike. Plus there are other sites that we could visit in that area.
Fr. Suarez
Fr. Suarez has some powerful gifts. I saw some amazing things when he prayed with people at St. Antoninus.
Where is this shrine?
Where is this shrine?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Pilgrimage
I'm in for a summer pilgrimage.
Fr. Fernando Suarez, a priest with a reported gift of healing, will be at the Martyrs Shrine June 6. (His site's been hacked by the Tamil Tigers).
Fr. Fernando Suarez, a priest with a reported gift of healing, will be at the Martyrs Shrine June 6. (His site's been hacked by the Tamil Tigers).
Stuff
Simon- good post. Have you ever heard of Luigi Guissani. I think you'd like his writing- just a hunch.
--
"Women priests would become Sacramental Lesbians"
-Peter Kreeft
--
"Women priests would become Sacramental Lesbians"
-Peter Kreeft
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Christ and the defense of values
Brendan, your words on the Spirit of the World were very illuminating for me as I had not reflected on the characteristics of the devil in this way. And while I agree that we must be absolutely uncompromising in our hearts towards Satan and all of his ways, we must also be careful not to become Manichean and divide reality into good and bad. For all reality-- if it is reality-- is good. And God is the Master of it all. Like Saint Paul, we must test everything and retain what is good-- meaning that which is true, beautiful, and ultimately real. Satan, on the other hand deals with lies and tries to take our attention away from what is really real.
The situation at Notre Dame and the many cultural challenges to the Christian way of life you mention have been the subjects of many conversations lately for me (as I'm sure they are for so many). But I fear, that as Christians, we often don't go far enough. We take for granted what really is at stake, and we deprive ourselves and the world of the very reason why any of us should care about these issues (life, family, etc.) in the first place.
Let's take the invitation to Obama from Notre Dame. On the one hand, we can repeat all we want that his views are absolutely in contradiction with ours on the crucial matters of life (many of the pro-life responses, and calls to reverse the invitation hold this line). On the other hand, we can champion the need for dialogue and openness to the world. But both positions (which, besides indifference, tend to be the dominant ones), reveal absolutely nothing about why a Catholic should care enough to write petitions or grant honorary degrees. The Dalai Lama could hold the same positions on life or openness/dialogue.
Instead, what is taken for granted in all of the reassertion of the Catholic position on abortion, etc., is WHY we believe a human life is so precious so as to warrant support for a decision that would place an ill-prepared woman or couple in a position of tremendous difficulty. WHY is a human life so important that terminal illness should not lessen the commitment to care? If it were enough simply to justify these difficult positions on the grounds of "human rights", then in our era of rights assertion it should simply be a matter of accepting that all humans have rights. If it were enough to simply assert that "God said so" then Obama, who also recognizes God to some degree, might give pause. But we are also fallen human beings, and we are weak and emotional and prone to selfishness and rationalization. In the face of an unplanned pregnancy or dying relative, neither the concept of human rights nor the doctrine on the Imago Dei is enough. We need a presence, someone REAL, who can show me it is possible to live this way-- consistent with the "self-evident truths" that are before me.
I need to be shown a Christ who is so real as to walk with me through my troubles. I need a Christ who is so real as to make choosing the more difficult path reasonable. I need a Christ who is real, and experienced, who I can see and touch.
And no one, or at least very few, talks about this Christ. Instead, I hear the call to defend Christian values, and prevent the change of legislation. I hear the defensive call to segregate from those we disagree with (not unlike La Sapienza university's refusal to let the Pope speak last year). I hear the clash of ideologies. And if I were not Catholic, I would observe all this and conclude that Catholicism is simply another "faith tradition" that happens to be pro-life. Shrug shoulders, move on.
Is all we have to offer as Catholics, pro-life apologetics?
I'm not in any way shrinking from pro-life convictions or poo-pooing pro-life activism. But I really do see a giant missed opportunity to invite the world into the an understanding of how Christ could make a formerly pro-abortion Roman culture the most human one in all of history. The early Christians did this not with pro-life t-shirts, but with an invitation to share the experience of someOne who fundamentally altered their lives. And again, who talks about this?
I want so much to share with you this Q&A session with Fr. Carron we had earlier this year. We spent a whole morning talking about Christ and politics/social issues, and it's a real goldmine. Here is an excerpt:
Q: Lastly: can you help us, let’s say, as a community of CL in the United States, of Catholics with a great desire to promote a culture of life…
JC: Our desire is to promote Christian life. This is the big mistake. I have decided to explain this very well. What is the question? That many people in the last three centuries tried to defend Christian values without Christ. But doing Christianity without Christ, you know, is impossible. What we have before us—the collapse of the family, the collapse of the culture of life, the collapse of these kind of things—is the example of this failure, this cultural failure. Because the Enlightenment is the attempt to construct Christianity, the values of Christian life without Christ, without belonging to Christ, without the root, without the foundation of Christ. And this is what we can now see before us: the failure, the historical failure of this attempt. And many people, even with this historical failure right in front of them, keep going defending what is defeated, as if nothing had happened!
Chris Bacich: So—let me clarify here—what you are saying is that to have the presumption to be pro-life without Christ is something that doesn’t work.
JC: That’s right. How did we get to this situation? Because many people—for this reason I referred to the Enlightenment—for at least the last three centuries have tried to defend, to live Christian life without Christ. This is the project of the Enlightenment in a nutshell: the attempt to live Christianity without Christ, the reduction of Christian life to a set of values, of Christian values, without the necessity of belonging to the Church, to Christ, to the historical event in history that is the Church. This is the attempt. Now, we have the results of this attempt before us. What is happening? We should focus our attention to what is happening in a number of countries—in Spain, Italy, Ireland, Poland, here—in every country there is the defeat of the Christian mentality. In all of these countries everything has changed: in Spain one day it’s marriage, another it’s abortion, another it’s gay rights, another…in Spain, a Catholic country!
So, we are pro-life, we are defenders of life. But the question is: how can we defend life? What is the method to defend life? Without a Christian faith, without the discovery of Christ, life, the defense of life has no foundation. It is not because I don’t want to defend life: I want to defend life! The problem is how can I reach this goal? If I mess up the method, I fail my goal, you know? And this is the question! In order to create a culture of life, Jesus Christ did not make a pro-life movement; he founded Christianity, the Church. Why didn’t Christ make a pro-life movement instead of the Church? Or a university? He founded the Church and this is the answer to all these questions. Christ was not stupid, not as naïve as we think. Because this is the only realistic explanation for why we are here, why we are pro-life, why we defend education. Because we have met Jesus in a real movement that awakes ourselves to Christian life, to the love of Christ, and this embraces everything. Because we are Christian we defend life, education, everything! But the first thing is this: without the encounter with Jesus Christ, people are splintered. One of them can be pro-life and pro-abortion, or pro-life and pro-divorce—one part against the other one. This is a division in the person. What is the only way that we can meet something that unites all our person and enables us to embrace, to affirm every value, every Christian value? Only if we meet Jesus Christ. Without this, we are defeated in the long-term and, as we see, in the short-term, as well.
The situation at Notre Dame and the many cultural challenges to the Christian way of life you mention have been the subjects of many conversations lately for me (as I'm sure they are for so many). But I fear, that as Christians, we often don't go far enough. We take for granted what really is at stake, and we deprive ourselves and the world of the very reason why any of us should care about these issues (life, family, etc.) in the first place.
Let's take the invitation to Obama from Notre Dame. On the one hand, we can repeat all we want that his views are absolutely in contradiction with ours on the crucial matters of life (many of the pro-life responses, and calls to reverse the invitation hold this line). On the other hand, we can champion the need for dialogue and openness to the world. But both positions (which, besides indifference, tend to be the dominant ones), reveal absolutely nothing about why a Catholic should care enough to write petitions or grant honorary degrees. The Dalai Lama could hold the same positions on life or openness/dialogue.
Instead, what is taken for granted in all of the reassertion of the Catholic position on abortion, etc., is WHY we believe a human life is so precious so as to warrant support for a decision that would place an ill-prepared woman or couple in a position of tremendous difficulty. WHY is a human life so important that terminal illness should not lessen the commitment to care? If it were enough simply to justify these difficult positions on the grounds of "human rights", then in our era of rights assertion it should simply be a matter of accepting that all humans have rights. If it were enough to simply assert that "God said so" then Obama, who also recognizes God to some degree, might give pause. But we are also fallen human beings, and we are weak and emotional and prone to selfishness and rationalization. In the face of an unplanned pregnancy or dying relative, neither the concept of human rights nor the doctrine on the Imago Dei is enough. We need a presence, someone REAL, who can show me it is possible to live this way-- consistent with the "self-evident truths" that are before me.
I need to be shown a Christ who is so real as to walk with me through my troubles. I need a Christ who is so real as to make choosing the more difficult path reasonable. I need a Christ who is real, and experienced, who I can see and touch.
And no one, or at least very few, talks about this Christ. Instead, I hear the call to defend Christian values, and prevent the change of legislation. I hear the defensive call to segregate from those we disagree with (not unlike La Sapienza university's refusal to let the Pope speak last year). I hear the clash of ideologies. And if I were not Catholic, I would observe all this and conclude that Catholicism is simply another "faith tradition" that happens to be pro-life. Shrug shoulders, move on.
Is all we have to offer as Catholics, pro-life apologetics?
I'm not in any way shrinking from pro-life convictions or poo-pooing pro-life activism. But I really do see a giant missed opportunity to invite the world into the an understanding of how Christ could make a formerly pro-abortion Roman culture the most human one in all of history. The early Christians did this not with pro-life t-shirts, but with an invitation to share the experience of someOne who fundamentally altered their lives. And again, who talks about this?
I want so much to share with you this Q&A session with Fr. Carron we had earlier this year. We spent a whole morning talking about Christ and politics/social issues, and it's a real goldmine. Here is an excerpt:
Q: Lastly: can you help us, let’s say, as a community of CL in the United States, of Catholics with a great desire to promote a culture of life…
JC: Our desire is to promote Christian life. This is the big mistake. I have decided to explain this very well. What is the question? That many people in the last three centuries tried to defend Christian values without Christ. But doing Christianity without Christ, you know, is impossible. What we have before us—the collapse of the family, the collapse of the culture of life, the collapse of these kind of things—is the example of this failure, this cultural failure. Because the Enlightenment is the attempt to construct Christianity, the values of Christian life without Christ, without belonging to Christ, without the root, without the foundation of Christ. And this is what we can now see before us: the failure, the historical failure of this attempt. And many people, even with this historical failure right in front of them, keep going defending what is defeated, as if nothing had happened!
Chris Bacich: So—let me clarify here—what you are saying is that to have the presumption to be pro-life without Christ is something that doesn’t work.
JC: That’s right. How did we get to this situation? Because many people—for this reason I referred to the Enlightenment—for at least the last three centuries have tried to defend, to live Christian life without Christ. This is the project of the Enlightenment in a nutshell: the attempt to live Christianity without Christ, the reduction of Christian life to a set of values, of Christian values, without the necessity of belonging to the Church, to Christ, to the historical event in history that is the Church. This is the attempt. Now, we have the results of this attempt before us. What is happening? We should focus our attention to what is happening in a number of countries—in Spain, Italy, Ireland, Poland, here—in every country there is the defeat of the Christian mentality. In all of these countries everything has changed: in Spain one day it’s marriage, another it’s abortion, another it’s gay rights, another…in Spain, a Catholic country!
So, we are pro-life, we are defenders of life. But the question is: how can we defend life? What is the method to defend life? Without a Christian faith, without the discovery of Christ, life, the defense of life has no foundation. It is not because I don’t want to defend life: I want to defend life! The problem is how can I reach this goal? If I mess up the method, I fail my goal, you know? And this is the question! In order to create a culture of life, Jesus Christ did not make a pro-life movement; he founded Christianity, the Church. Why didn’t Christ make a pro-life movement instead of the Church? Or a university? He founded the Church and this is the answer to all these questions. Christ was not stupid, not as naïve as we think. Because this is the only realistic explanation for why we are here, why we are pro-life, why we defend education. Because we have met Jesus in a real movement that awakes ourselves to Christian life, to the love of Christ, and this embraces everything. Because we are Christian we defend life, education, everything! But the first thing is this: without the encounter with Jesus Christ, people are splintered. One of them can be pro-life and pro-abortion, or pro-life and pro-divorce—one part against the other one. This is a division in the person. What is the only way that we can meet something that unites all our person and enables us to embrace, to affirm every value, every Christian value? Only if we meet Jesus Christ. Without this, we are defeated in the long-term and, as we see, in the short-term, as well.
Friday, April 17, 2009
The Raging Culture War
Listening to Gil Bailie, he emphasize the difficulty of being able to read or acknowledge the "spirit of the age" or "spirit of the world" in the present times. It is easy to look back, say at the the Holocaust, and be able to say, " how could we not see what was going on" or "never again". The difficulty is that the spirit of the world, which is one of the three fronts of the evil(the world, the flesh, and demons), is constantly changing according to the times and also it is very difficult to describe, to put our hands around it. We do know that there are three characteristics that the spirit of the world seeks, they are: greed, vanity (honor) and pleasure.
One of the meditations of the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius is of the two banners or armies. On one side we have the the banner of Christ and the other we have the banner of the Devil and there is a war between them. Each side as there soldiers/apostles/followers. The goal of Christ is to win souls for His Father, the goal of the Devil is keep souls away from God the Father; He doesn't care about them for his own good or possession, just to make sure that they are destroyed. There are many other analogies that reflect this reality. It is important to realize that the battleground where this war takes place is our hearts. It is also important to realize that there are NO compromise/middle ground/peace treaties/Geneva conventions. You're either on the side of Christ or on the side of the Devil. Period. There are many different aspects of our lives that we need to surrender and give over to Christ until we are completely His and ready to die in battle. This is the reality of our own personal spiritual life and it is most definitely the reality of our culture. To me it is as clear as day that there is a absolute battle going on in our culture. It is exactly what JPII is speaking about when he spoke about the "culture of death" and what Benedict speaks about when he says "the dictatorship of relativism". These two men can/could see the spirit of the world in present times. There are three recent events that clearly point to this battle that is raging. What is so amazing is the timing of these events and how starkly that bring to light this reality.
1) Hilary Clinton visiting the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and asking "who painted it" while they next day receiving the Margaret Sanger award from Planned Parenthood and praising the work of Sanger. You can't make this up. It shows either complete ignorance or direct attack from the Devil. She didn't know anything about the story of Guadalupe and she didn't know anything about the work/agenda of Sanger or she's an apostle/follower of the Devil. As I said, the goal of the army of the Devil is vague, there's no real goal except to take souls away from God, while the army of Jesus is clear and precise: to win souls for God. This is why it is not clear to Hilary or the general population that she's working for the Devil, there's no real objective. Most people who align themselves with the Devil don't even know it. The timing these events is what is really amazing.
2) Two days ago Archbishop Dolan was instilled as the Archbishop of NY. I didn't watch or hear any of his homily but I know that he spoke about being strong on Pro-Life and Pro-Family issues, that he would be a defender of these. Present at the instillation was Gov. Patterson of NY. Today, two days after Dolan's instillation, Gov. Patterson will introduce a bill to legalize "gay marriage". Again the timing of this is amazing.
3)On Tuesday President Obama spoke at Georgetown (forget that this is a direct rejection of the request of the US Bishops not to honor or give platforms to politicians who directly oppose fundamental Catholic principles) and what is absolutely amazing is that his administration requested that any religious symbols or signage be covered up. Georgetown proceeded to cover up not only the Crucifix but when out of their way to cover up the "IHS" as well. What's striking to me is not so much the denial of the Catholic faith by Georgetown but that it occurred during the Easter Octave. I see this as a direct attack; there is no gray area here and the timing just makes it more apparent.
We MUST be aware that there is a war raging and what's at stake is souls; the battle ground is in our own hearts, we must side with Christ.
One of the meditations of the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius is of the two banners or armies. On one side we have the the banner of Christ and the other we have the banner of the Devil and there is a war between them. Each side as there soldiers/apostles/followers. The goal of Christ is to win souls for His Father, the goal of the Devil is keep souls away from God the Father; He doesn't care about them for his own good or possession, just to make sure that they are destroyed. There are many other analogies that reflect this reality. It is important to realize that the battleground where this war takes place is our hearts. It is also important to realize that there are NO compromise/middle ground/peace treaties/Geneva conventions. You're either on the side of Christ or on the side of the Devil. Period. There are many different aspects of our lives that we need to surrender and give over to Christ until we are completely His and ready to die in battle. This is the reality of our own personal spiritual life and it is most definitely the reality of our culture. To me it is as clear as day that there is a absolute battle going on in our culture. It is exactly what JPII is speaking about when he spoke about the "culture of death" and what Benedict speaks about when he says "the dictatorship of relativism". These two men can/could see the spirit of the world in present times. There are three recent events that clearly point to this battle that is raging. What is so amazing is the timing of these events and how starkly that bring to light this reality.
1) Hilary Clinton visiting the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and asking "who painted it" while they next day receiving the Margaret Sanger award from Planned Parenthood and praising the work of Sanger. You can't make this up. It shows either complete ignorance or direct attack from the Devil. She didn't know anything about the story of Guadalupe and she didn't know anything about the work/agenda of Sanger or she's an apostle/follower of the Devil. As I said, the goal of the army of the Devil is vague, there's no real goal except to take souls away from God, while the army of Jesus is clear and precise: to win souls for God. This is why it is not clear to Hilary or the general population that she's working for the Devil, there's no real objective. Most people who align themselves with the Devil don't even know it. The timing these events is what is really amazing.
2) Two days ago Archbishop Dolan was instilled as the Archbishop of NY. I didn't watch or hear any of his homily but I know that he spoke about being strong on Pro-Life and Pro-Family issues, that he would be a defender of these. Present at the instillation was Gov. Patterson of NY. Today, two days after Dolan's instillation, Gov. Patterson will introduce a bill to legalize "gay marriage". Again the timing of this is amazing.
3)On Tuesday President Obama spoke at Georgetown (forget that this is a direct rejection of the request of the US Bishops not to honor or give platforms to politicians who directly oppose fundamental Catholic principles) and what is absolutely amazing is that his administration requested that any religious symbols or signage be covered up. Georgetown proceeded to cover up not only the Crucifix but when out of their way to cover up the "IHS" as well. What's striking to me is not so much the denial of the Catholic faith by Georgetown but that it occurred during the Easter Octave. I see this as a direct attack; there is no gray area here and the timing just makes it more apparent.
We MUST be aware that there is a war raging and what's at stake is souls; the battle ground is in our own hearts, we must side with Christ.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Review
Book: The Violent Bear it Away
Author: Flannery O'Connor
Objective: 7
Subjective: Undecided, but I think 8
MC: 7-8
This novel is very intense and dark. Flannery does an awesome job using descriptive language to represent spiritual or emotional situations. For example, "His eyes as they turned and looked down at her were the color of the lake just before dark when the last daylight has faded and the moon has not risen yet, and for an instant she thought she saw something fleeing across the surface of them, a lost light that came from nowhere and vanished into nothing". Spiritual Vacuity (Bailie)?? I think so.
I'm not totally sure about how this story depicts the faith, but there are two drastically opposing characters. A zelous and crazy prophet and a overly reasonable atheist. They hate each other. They are bitter enemies. At one point the atheist (depicts a life of self control, intelligence, self reliance) is bragging to the third character- the nephew of the crazy prophet...It's opposite of the gospel...
"It's you the seed feel in. It ain't a thing you can do about it. It fell on bad ground but it fell in deep. With me, he said, it fell on rock and the wind carried it away"! He thinks the seed is toxic.
Flannery uses strong irony throughout the whole story to depict this dichotomy.
The story also portrays the monotany and "lameness" of most men's lives. The 14yo boy is so proud that he was born in the midst of a car accident. His mother went into labor after being hit by a car. "He had always felt that it set his existence apart from the ordinary one and he had understood from it that the plans of God for him were special, even though nothing of consequence had happned to him so far".
Another theme: false prophecy, righteousness etc. "This fixatino of being 'called' by the Lord had its origin in insecurity. He needed the assurance of a call and so he called himself (to be a profit)".
Other themes were unexpected violence (title?) (Large destructive fires, drownings,), grotesque and desperate characters. The prophet was insane, the nephew was lost and grotesque, the little boy was dim-wited and a symbol of lifelessness, and the athiest was an emotional wreck- a wounded soul.
The character names were interesting. Tarwater (the 14yo boy) and Bishop (the younger 8 yo boy).
Harold Bloom said this:
"Her comic genuis is certainly part of the asnwere; someone who can enterain us so profoundly can damn us pretty much as she pleases".
"Her obsessive spirituality and absolute moral judgements cannot just sustain themselves at the reader's expense."
Reading The Violent Bear it Away, I am exhilarted to the brink of fear"
"And yet her verve and drive, the propulsive gusto of her comic spirit, is overwhelming. Her Catholicism might as well be Holy Rollerism, so far as the aesthetic effect of her fiction is concerned. There we can locate her natural shrewndess; her mad and damned American religionists can be parodied, but the parody will not touch her assured Roman Catholicism. More then a comedian of genius, she had also the pentrating insight that religion for her countryment and -women was not the opiate, but the rather the poetry of the people".
Author: Flannery O'Connor
Objective: 7
Subjective: Undecided, but I think 8
MC: 7-8
This novel is very intense and dark. Flannery does an awesome job using descriptive language to represent spiritual or emotional situations. For example, "His eyes as they turned and looked down at her were the color of the lake just before dark when the last daylight has faded and the moon has not risen yet, and for an instant she thought she saw something fleeing across the surface of them, a lost light that came from nowhere and vanished into nothing". Spiritual Vacuity (Bailie)?? I think so.
I'm not totally sure about how this story depicts the faith, but there are two drastically opposing characters. A zelous and crazy prophet and a overly reasonable atheist. They hate each other. They are bitter enemies. At one point the atheist (depicts a life of self control, intelligence, self reliance) is bragging to the third character- the nephew of the crazy prophet...It's opposite of the gospel...
"It's you the seed feel in. It ain't a thing you can do about it. It fell on bad ground but it fell in deep. With me, he said, it fell on rock and the wind carried it away"! He thinks the seed is toxic.
Flannery uses strong irony throughout the whole story to depict this dichotomy.
The story also portrays the monotany and "lameness" of most men's lives. The 14yo boy is so proud that he was born in the midst of a car accident. His mother went into labor after being hit by a car. "He had always felt that it set his existence apart from the ordinary one and he had understood from it that the plans of God for him were special, even though nothing of consequence had happned to him so far".
Another theme: false prophecy, righteousness etc. "This fixatino of being 'called' by the Lord had its origin in insecurity. He needed the assurance of a call and so he called himself (to be a profit)".
Other themes were unexpected violence (title?) (Large destructive fires, drownings,), grotesque and desperate characters. The prophet was insane, the nephew was lost and grotesque, the little boy was dim-wited and a symbol of lifelessness, and the athiest was an emotional wreck- a wounded soul.
The character names were interesting. Tarwater (the 14yo boy) and Bishop (the younger 8 yo boy).
Harold Bloom said this:
"Her comic genuis is certainly part of the asnwere; someone who can enterain us so profoundly can damn us pretty much as she pleases".
"Her obsessive spirituality and absolute moral judgements cannot just sustain themselves at the reader's expense."
Reading The Violent Bear it Away, I am exhilarted to the brink of fear"
"And yet her verve and drive, the propulsive gusto of her comic spirit, is overwhelming. Her Catholicism might as well be Holy Rollerism, so far as the aesthetic effect of her fiction is concerned. There we can locate her natural shrewndess; her mad and damned American religionists can be parodied, but the parody will not touch her assured Roman Catholicism. More then a comedian of genius, she had also the pentrating insight that religion for her countryment and -women was not the opiate, but the rather the poetry of the people".
Sounds Great
Brendan-
I love the idea. Why don't we settle on a date and go from there. Let's get an email chain going for a possible date.
D
I love the idea. Why don't we settle on a date and go from there. Let's get an email chain going for a possible date.
D
Happy Easter!
He is risen, He is truly Risen!
Guys, I had the idea over the past few days of planning or thinking about doing a Miles Caritas retreat/outing some time this summer. I know that some of you will have time this summer to do something. Let's start thinking about something. Maybe 3-5 days somewhere relatively local. I don't think it has to be something at a retreat center, maybe like doing a pilgrimage to the shrine of the North American Martyers or something like that. What do you think?
Guys, I had the idea over the past few days of planning or thinking about doing a Miles Caritas retreat/outing some time this summer. I know that some of you will have time this summer to do something. Let's start thinking about something. Maybe 3-5 days somewhere relatively local. I don't think it has to be something at a retreat center, maybe like doing a pilgrimage to the shrine of the North American Martyers or something like that. What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
