Abbey-Roads2

Third Order Franciscan and Patron of the Secular Franciscan Order…

But most importantly, a good father to his son.  His piety and virtue lovingly expressed in a letter to his son may sound strange to many modern parents, who typically seek worldly success and emotional fulfillment for their children, often without concern for their salvation.  From the Saint’s letter:

To his dear first-born son, Philip, greeting, and his father’s love.

“Therefore, dear son, the first thing I advise is that you fix your whole heart upon God, and love Him with all your strength, for without this no one can be saved or be of any worth.

“You should, with all your strength, shun everything which you believe to be displeasing to Him. And you ought especially to be resolved not to commit mortal sin, no matter what may happen and should permit all your limbs to be hewn off, and suffer every manner of torment , rather than fall knowingly into mortal sin.” - Source

On the other hand…

A friend of mine who spends much time in France on business, loves to tell me how anti-semitic the French are - how they betrayed the Jews in WWII, and how historically, they had no love for them.  If this be true, St. Louis may have contributed to it as well:

“Dear son, freely give power to persons of good character, who know how to use it well, and strive to have wickednesses expelled from your land, that is to say, nasty oaths, and everything said or done against God or our Lady or the saints. In a wise and proper manner put a stop, in your land, to bodily sins, dicing, taverns, and other sins. Put down heresy so far as you can, and hold in especial abhorrence Jews, and all sorts of people who are hostile to the Faith, so that your land may be well purged of them, in such manner as, by the sage counsel of good people, may appear to you advisable.” - Source 

Just goes to show you, even the saints may have been subject to the trendy ideas of their time; or is it just how we interpret what they said, along with their behavior, through our contemporary myopia and opinion based upon popular consensus?  

He was a good dad though.

Radical gay activists claim Newman was gay.

So like this is news?  I can’t tell you how many people have suggested the same thing to me - even a priest or two.  Sadly, gay men often do not understand same-sex friendship and fraternal love.   Although today such close friendship can even be confusing for normal men, tainted as many are by our sexualized culture, along with the prevalence of gay propaganda. 

One must remember that homosexuality was considered an imprisonable offense in Cardinal Newman’s day, and so debased it was referred to as a vice one dare not even name.  To suggest the Cardinal was homosexual in his relationship with Fr. Ambrose is ridiculous.  Radical homosexuals like to suggest Jonathan and King David were gay too, and even Christ and St. John the Beloved.  They make this stuff up.  Below is the Timesonline reaction:

A spokesperson for Catholic Action UK dismissed Mr Tatchell’s claims, saying it was a well-known “trick of homosexual activists” to claim that any close friendship of a person in the past is evidence of homosexuality. “Now Cardinal Newman’s great friendship with Ambrose St John is being slyly suggested as evidence of his being subject to a disordered sexuality. The utter absurdity of this idea speaks for itself.”  - Source 

Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

“Willingly accept every opportunity for humbling yourself.  Don’t be offended at a harsh word, an imperious tone of voice, not being respected as much as you would like to be.  Welcome occasions of being disregarded and humiliated, first with patience, then willingly, without raising any difficulties, and finally with joy.”  - St. Maximilian Kolbe

Basilica Santa Chiara, Assisi.

While I lived in Assisi I attended Mass here every morning.  One of the nuns taught me how to pray the rosary in Italian at the grille, hidden by her enclosure veil.  It was cool.  Despite the fact the Saint’s body is enshrined here, I felt closest to St. Clare at San Damiano, where she lived with her “Poor Ladies”.  The first nuns slept in dormitories.  The only religious I know of today who live such poverty and austerity are the Missionaries of Charity.

Enduring opposition.

Following Christ, Franz endured the opposition of friends, family, even Church officials when he resisted the Nazi regime.  His witness calls to mind Paul’s words, “Let us go to him, outside the camp, bearing the insult he bore.  For here we have no lasting city; we are seeking one which is to come.” - Hebrew 13: 13-14

Disregarding human respect.

He is an example for us to persevere even when many Catholic laity, as well as some bishops, priests and religious have let themselves become moral relativists by condoning such things as homosexual relationships that are monogamous, as well as contraception, and other immoral acts contemporary secular society endorses.  Of course, being a conscientious objector under an unlawful military regime, he stands out especially as a model for Catholics who oppose unjust wars of aggression.

Witness to hope.

“Just as the man who thinks only of this world does everything possible to make life here easier and better, so must we, too, who believe in the eternal kingdom, risk everything in order to receive a great reward there. Just as those who believe in National Socialism tell themselves that their struggle is for survival, so must we, too, convince ourselves that our struggle is for the eternal kingdom. But with this difference: We need no rifles or pistols for our battle, but instead, spiritual weapons—and the foremost among these is prayer. . . . Through prayer, we constantly implore new grace from God, since without God’s help and grace it would be impossible for us to preserve the Faith and be true to His commandments. . . . Let us love our enemies, bless those who curse us, pray for those who persecute us. For love will conquer and will endure for all eternity. And happy are they who live and die in God’s love.” - Blessed Franz Jagerstatter

August 9 is the memorial of Blessed Franz, member of the Third Order of St. Francis, husband and father.

Links:

The very stones would cry out!   

Martyr for peace.   

Remembering the Servant of God, Paul VI: on the 30th anniversary of his death.

Our Holy Father Paul VI has been much maligned and criticized in his lifetime and continues to be after death - especially by many traditionalists who seek a scapegoat for all the problems the Church has suffered since the Council.  Not unlike John Paul II, who has also been highly criticized, Paul VI was not immune to assassination attempts.  The most notable occurred in the Philippines when a man armed with a knife nearly attacked him. Indeed, he was the target of a vicious character assassination attempt as well.  At one point in his pontificate, an ex-seminarian or priest? - if I remember correctly - probably a homosexual activist, accused him of homosexuality. I distinctly recall a news clip of the Pope decrying the slander on television wherein his voice broke with emotion, denouncing the slanderous accusation. “The Holy Father will have much to suffer.” (Our Lady’s prophecy at Fatima.) Pope Paul VI surely did suffer. Physically, morally, and spiritually. He had nearly crippling arthritis, making it difficult for him to walk in his later years. He resorted to the use of the sedan chair carried by attendants when celebrating liturgical functions at St. Peter’s and elsewhere in Rome.  (JPII used automated transport.) - From a previous post.

Documentation on one of the many moral sufferings endured by the Holy Father…

13).POPE PAUL VI (1897 - 1978)
When Italian magazine Tempo published an article in 1967 asserting that he was a homosexual, Pope Paul VI took the unusual step of issuing a denial in a public speech from his balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square. He called the magazine’s assertions “ a horrible and slanderous insinuation”,and implored Catholics to “pray for our humble person, who has been made a target of scorn… by a certain press lacking dutiful regard for honesty and truth.” Soon afterward, Italian police began mass confiscation of the magazine, on grounds that it had libeled the Catholic church. - Source

In fact, a day of reparation was called for throughout Italy.

…The devil would contemptuously call to him thus…

St. John Vianney knew much about the devil and his temptations.  He also knew much about the “morning-dew-piety” of presumptuous souls who trust in their own strength.  For the Saint’s feast day I leave this quote, from one of his sermons on temptation:

“Look at this other one, who seems to want to give his whole life for God, whose ardor all the torments there are cannot damp. A tiny bit of scandalmongering … a word of calumny … even a slightly cold reception or a small injustice done to him … a kindness returned by ingratitude … immediately gives birth in him to feelings of hatred, of revenge, of dislike, to the point, often, of his never wishing to see his neighbor again or at least of treating him coldly with an air which shows very plainly what is going on in his heart. And how many times is this his waking thought, just as it was the thought that almost prevented him from sleeping? Alas, my dear brethren, we are poor stuff, and we should count very little upon our good resolutions!” - Source

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.

Are there gay saints?

While in the monastery, I once asked a holy priest if he thought there were any saints who were homosexual.  He said he never heard of any.  He went on to clarify that every saint endured numerous and various temptations, therefore some saints surely endured the temptation or even a proclivity for same sex attraction.  Nevertheless, this does not constitute homosexuality.  He insisted that no saint would have accepted homosexual behavior as something compatible with the way of perfection. - From an earlier post.