Abbey-Roads2

How deep the darkness.

St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises covers this topic in detailed steps, yet the subject remains something many people are always, always, easily deceived about.  St. Ignatius’ instruction for the Discernment of Spirits is not the first of its kind however, from the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel and ever since, the Christian has been advised and instructed to “test the spirits” as St. Paul says.  

“Deceiving even the elect - if that were possible.” - Matthew 24: 24 

Of course as our Lord promised, “nothing is hidden that will not come to light” (Luke 8: 17); therefore we can find consolation in knowing what is true will always remain, while no matter how convincing error seems to be presented, it will be confounded.  What is our assurance in this?  We need to cling to Holy Church as our Mother.  She is there to feed us, to train us, and to lead us to salvation.  We need to keep ourselves - to the best of our efforts - in the state of grace, by daily prayer, good reading, frequent confession, Mass and communion, and so on.  In addition, despite the mockery and derision one may receive for following Church teaching, we must be convinced that only in this can a soul be absolutely certain the Holy Spirit is guiding the soul.  This certitude is similar to the absolute certainty one’s sins are forgiven in the sacrament of penance.  One can always hope ones sins are forgiven outside of the sacrament, but only the certitude that they have been fully remitted is given in the actual reception of the sacrament.

“If someone preaches another gospel, be he an angel of light…” - Galatians 1:8

Father Zuhlsdorf  posted on the recent non-denominational ordination of a woman who, along with at least 31 others, have deliberately misrepresented themselves as Roman Catholic priests.  (Read his post - his commentary reveals how farcical the entire matter is.)  Although it would appear their deception is clear and deliberate, the press and other dissident catholics have embraced these women as participants, if not leaders, in their agenda to undermine the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church regarding faith and morals.

Peace and justice - not. 

Obviously there is nothing subtle or hidden as to the agenda of the so-called woman priest movement, however, when one investigates the organizations and movements these women are associated with, or at least supported by, one can be fairly certain these dissident groups are not guided by a good spirit.  Therefore, one may be inclined to laugh at and deride these deluded women who pretend to be priests;  But more importantly, people need to realize they are in fact connected to, supported by, or at least tolerated by so-called “mainstream” Catholic individuals and groups - who like to insist they are ”faithful dissenters”.

Living for dissent.

The photo I used is of the most recent priest-claimant; Janice Sevre-Duszynska, whom Fr. Z featured on his blog.  Her MO sounds familiar, if one did not know her name, one might guess she had been a sister of St. Joseph, or a member of one of the Minneapolis based peace and justice-gay rights groups or parishes.  Such people seem to live for dissent and self-promotion.

“How delightful is the holy light of faith, by which we know, with unequalled certitude, not only the history of the beginning of creatures, and their true use, but even that of the eternal birth of the great and sovereign divine Word, for whom and by whom all has been made.” - St. Francis de Sales 

I know!!!

I’ll be offline for awhile… perhaps just the morning, or the whole day, then again, maybe two days - I dunno.

St. Ignatius on humility.

“The first kind of humility is this:  This is the kind that is necessary for my eternal salvation, and consists in subjecting and humbling myself so that I can obey the law of God…”

Ignatius briefly explains this as being a determination to avoid mortal sin - to keep the commandments of God, and by extension, the Church. This is critical, because the foundation of humility rests upon this fundamental support.  We cannot live in sin and be humble, because sin is rebellion against God.  Even if we try to say we have no sin, as many do today, it is a false humility.  Societal examples can be seen in those who have accommodated their conscience to living in certain sinful conditions.  For instance; divorced and remarried persons who approach Communion, contracepting couples, sexually active homosexuals, and so on.

“The second kind of humility: The second is more perfect than the first.  I have it if I find myself at a point where I do not desire, nor even prefer, to be rich rather than poor, to seek fame rather than disgrace…provided it is the same for the service of God and the good of my soul…”

Ignatius continues his instruction with the attitude the soul must have of avoiding even deliberate venial sin, no matter the cost, even one’s life.  Most ordinary folks cannot get through a day without venial sin, at least involuntary venial sin.  I know I commit venial sin each day - I understand that during my daily examen - midday and at night.

Sometimes I think many of us can take venial sin for granted.  We know it is easily forgiven, and we are not obligated to confess venial sins.  That is a dangerous attitude however, since habitual venial sins weaken the soul and may incline one to commit mortal sin.  A lax attitude towards venial sin is a serious failure in our love for God, whom every sin offends.  Deliberate venial sins and imperfection are often the cause of acedia or sloth in the spiritual life, leading to persistent lukewarmness and indifference.

“The third kind of humility: This is the more perfect humility.  It is present when - given the first and second kinds are included, and supposing equal praise and glory of the divine majesty - in order to imitate Christ our Lord and to be actually more like him, I want to choose poverty with Christ poor rather than wealth, ignominy with Christ rather than fame, and I desire more to be thought a fool and an idiot for Christ, who first was considered such, rather than to be thought wise and prudent in this world.”

I have no comment on this last degree of humility.

July 31 is the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola. 

“Boy, you’re going to carry that weight a long time…” - Abbey Road: Carry That Weight - Beatles.

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“Brother Giles also said: If only we could have a heavy weight that would always make us bow our head.” - Little Flowers of St. Francis

Our Lady of the Angels

August 2nd is the feast of Our Lady of the Angels - a Franciscan feast for which Los Angeles was originally named.  In view of today’s earthquake, residents there may wish to take note.  Attached to this feast is what is known as the Great Pardon of Assisi, obtained by St. Francis.  It is in effect an opportunity for all of the faithful in the world (not just in Assisi) to gain a plenary indulgence.  Here is how:

Once there were two sisters…

Martha was the sister of Mary - the Mary people used to say had been a whore - but when morals plummeted in the 20th century and whores became commonplace, Mary became known as a feminist and an evangelist.  Both sisters lived with  their brother Lazarus - who was thought to be quite a stinker until Jesus raised him from the dead.  (Did you know when he was raised from the dead he was naked except for a winding cloth?!)

So anyway, Martha had panic attacks and would get very nervous while doing all the housework, while Mary usually sat calmly, sipping tea, twirling her hair, studying ”A Course In Miracles”.  This may explain why she (Martha) took a lot of valium, only it really wasn’t valium in those days, although she did grow poppies in the garden along with hemp - just to make rope and sandals of course.  (Martha knew the truth about Mary’s past and that is probably why she often became so indignant with her.)

Nevertheless - Martha loved to entertain (sounds like another Martha, doesn’t it?), and that is why she had the apostles over so often.  One day, while very busy on the set of her home-decorating-cooking show for the Bethanites, everyone showed up unexpectedly, hoping to eat and drink.  Mary, always the party girl, joined the guests and just sat on the window sill, with a goofy smile on her lips, listening to all the repartee.  After awhile, Martha complained about Mary being such a lay-about, although, when she was told she (Mary) had chosen the better part, Martha literally “threw in the towel” (which is how we got that saying today BTW), and told everyone to help themselves to the food (which is how buffets originated BTW), and Martha decided to do her own thing (which is what hippies did in the late ’60’s BTW).  Of course the family was always very fashionable, if not countercultural, and the story might have  ended there…

Yet few people knew Martha had been a portrait artist - that is why so many icons of Our Lady are mistakenly attributed to St. Luke instead - St. Luke was a doctor - a podiatrist in fact.  Some say that after rehab, Mary worked for a time as his nurse-receptionist, and she ordinarily washed the patients feet (with her hair!) before they could see the doctor - although that may have been a medieval invention.  (But you see how these stories can get all mixed up when you have an agenda.)  Anyway, that day Martha decided to paint her lay-about sister Mary’s portrait - as she sat on the window sill.  Yes, you guessed it - the painting became known throughout the world as the “Mona Lisa” and has been wrongly attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci ever since the 16th century. 

I know, I know - but the family name of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus was Winschki (’W’ pronounced like ‘V’), which Italianated became Vinci - the name of the town Leonardo was from in Italy.  (Leo’s mother’s maiden name was Winschki - his dad’s name was Nardino - so Leo took Leonardo as his nome de plume, if you will - and someone else attached Da Vinci - the “Da” meaning “of” or “from” Vinci in Italian - I forget which.)  Anyway, how the painting came into his possession is still a mystery, and another story entirely, although it could possibly make an interesting book and movie.

The End

(This story is totally fabricated, just like the Da Vinci Code and dissident interpretations of scripture.  You know - like the one about the centurion and his gay-slave-lover he asked Jesus to heal.  As if!) 

Without defense.

A favorite among the first followers of St. Francis of Assisi is Brother Juniper.  He was possibly the most humble of all the original friars - although that would be hard to determine for certain.

Juniper liked to humiliate himself by taking his clothes off.  One time he removed his habit, breeches and all - tied the habit into a bundle with his cord and put it around his neck, placing the breeches on his head.  He went to the marketplace in Viterbo that way.  (Brother Juniper was originally sent by Holy Father Francis to Viterbo to found a friary there.)  On his way to the town square, the blessed friar was cruelly mistreated; pushed and shoved, stoned with rocks and gravel and mocked, as if he were a madman.  After being tormented for a long time he returned to the friary.

The friars were indignant when they saw him because he had exposed himself thus; indeed they were scandalized by his behavior, convinced he had lost his mind.  They threatened him with expulsion, with prison, with the discipline, and with other horrid penalties.

Little Brother Juniper listened with great joy, and answered eagerly, “You are right!  I deserve all of those punishments and still greater ones for giving such scandal.”

This entry in the Fioretti concludes with: “To the glory of Christ.  Amen.”

Call me crazy, but…

“The most insane thing in the whole world is not to want to be a saint. Sanity is to take every means to achieve sanctity and be pleasing to God. When we think of the infinite reward God will give us for that - it is sheer insanity to do the opposite!” - St. Philip Neri

After sharing the above quote with a friend, he responded in an email with this…

“I was just explaining to my niece on saturday how the gay world is really insane, if you go by the ”textbook definition” of the word.  I said to her, “What’s the definition of insanity?”   She didn’t know, so I told her that insanity is living outside of reality, while insisting that which is unreal is real and REPEATEDLY  making choices that support that “un-reality.  I’m tired of being insane!”" 

Art:  St. Philip Neri

Overcoming natural affections.

“In the course of her religious life she (St. Therese) often had to suffer from people’s dislike of her, or from clashes of temperament or of mood, and, indeed from the jealousy and spiteful behavior on the part of other nuns.  Not only did she bear this with patient equanimity, but she always tried to excuse their behavior.  She also sought the company  of such nuns in preference to that of others, and showed them the greatest kindness.  I considered the conduct of one of these to be particularly reprehensible, but Sister Therese insisted:  ‘I assure you that I have the greatest compassion for Sister X.  If you knew her as well as I do, you would see that she is not responsible for all of the things that seem so awful to us. I remind myself that if I had an infirmity such as hers, and so defective a spirit, I would not do any better than she does, and then I would despair; she suffers terribly from her own shortcomings.‘” - Mother Agnes of Jesus 

Of course, I still have to work at not being such a jerk.