Abbey-Roads2

Be still and know that I am God.

Yesterday was adoration day at my parish church, and so I was able to spend more time than usual praying before the Blessed Sacrament.  Since it was also the feast of the Transfiguration, it seemed an especially gracious time for prayer.  It occurred to me that in looking upon the consecrated Host reserved in the monstrance, I was in fact gazing upon the Face of God - face to face - just as surely as Moses did when he entered the cloud on Mount Sinai, and there encountered the Living God.

On Sinai, Moses encountered the same Lord who was transfigured before Peter, James, and John on Mt. Tabor.  The same Lord we encounter hidden in the Eucharist.  The same Lord seen by Moses and the prophets.  These are not just words or some emotionally charged spiritual concept, or some cleverly concocted myth.  As the transfiguration reveals - we see with Moses - what Moses saw, we see with Elijah - what Elijah saw, we see with the apostles - what the apostles saw.  It is an amazing thing to contemplate, kneeling before the Lord who told the Jews, “Before Abraham came to be, I am.”

Who do you say that I am?

It seems to me we live in a culture of dissent.  So many people consider themselves theologians - because of their ongoing studies and degrees, they can come across as either the perennial student or the constant professor - albeit an authority of some type.  The theology student revels in his freedom to dissect and question doctrine, dogma, and the nature of God and man’s relationship with him.  It is a very powerful aphrodisiac, so to speak.  However, quite often not a few ‘pedigreed’  theologians fall into the Peter trap - they dissent from the Lord’s teaching, becoming an obstacle to Christ, “thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”  (Although Peter repented.)  

Let us make three tents.

Perhaps, transported and trying to express himself by attempting to formulate ideas he could not yet understand, Peter said, “Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”  Our nature wants to contain God, wants to limit God, to conform him to our own image.  Like  Peter, we often fail to see the immediacy of the encounter, its unity, indeed, the eternal made present.  With God, everything is present, as he told Venerable Conchita:

“‘In the beginning I already was.’   My glance envelops all in a single point in time that contains all eternity.  I am God who became man out of love, who wanted to suffer and be an expiatory victim for sin, honoring God, my Father, giving him infinite glory.”- Ven. Conception Cabrera de Armido

Get behind me Satan.

If not an obstacle to full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, continual dissent may indeed be an obstacle to salvation, tempting dissenters to make three tents - outside of the Church, to house their own human interpretation of a false Christ, a certain lawlessness, and to enshrine their cult prophets.  Much like the Woman-priest Movement, LGBT Movements, opponents of Humanae Vitae, and other New Age cults are attempting to do these days.  

Upon this rock I will build my Church.

Jesus said this to Peter and every subsequent Pope since him.  In this gospel (Matthew 16: 13-23) we understand that Christ was establishing the Church upon the rock of Peter.  Every Roman Catholic knows this - a hierarchy was established.  Yet there are false teachers who have gone out from amongst us and teach another gospel.  They have made themselves an obstacle to Christ upon whom they themselves have tripped and fallen into error.  They think as human beings do and not as God.  As one so-called  woman-priest makes clear in this anecdote concerning her misplaced hope:

“Here is one example. One day recently I celebrated Eucharist with a group of people at someone’s family farm. After morning prayer the next day, a community leader invited me to be seated in the center of the circle of people gathered. They’d all heard about the excommunication decree, he said, and found it ridiculous. But they figured it would help me to hear so from them. They surrounded me in the circle, touched me, and many prayed aloud about their gratitude that I had been ordained to serve them as priest. Two spoke of receiving joy and serenity from me. As tears flowed down every face I saw, I remembered that very morning, walking across a field and finding myself standing upon a large flat boulder, hidden among the stalks of waist high grain. The words “you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church” came to me and I realized it was the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The words are for all of us. We are all the rock upon which Jesus builds – all of us baptized Christians, serving God and each other and our world to the best of our abilities. In this I place my hope! ” - Woman-priest claimant.      

Really thinking as God does.

The events on Mt. Tabor are so much more than simply a contemplative prayer encounter in the cloud of unknowing.  It was an eschatological encounter with the Living God - something perpetual dissidents appear to be missing in their profiles.  As another blogger wrote:

“The crisis of modern civilization is a loss of Christian eschatology, and a loss of the concept of our teleology. Eschatalogy (greek: eschatos) means the final things, and in theology that is Death, Judgment, Purgatory, Heaven and Hell. Scholastic treatment used the Latin title novissimis. People no longer act in accordance with the fact that one day they will die and receive judgment…

“Teleology on the other hand (greek: telos) refers to our immediate, but not final end, as in the end of our actions. Actions are oriented toward a certain end, we do not choose them by chance. Modern man believes however in acting without thought to our end, to “take a chance”, acting in an insane manner without order or discipline or prudence.  The loss of any concept of eschatology has a different effect, namely people don’t take going to hell seriously. Yet the loss of teleology, consequentially of all Natural Law based teaching, is the catalyst for relativism. If the ends of our actions are not based on objective natural law principles, they can be based on anything. - Athanasius:  Humanae Vitae; 40 Years

“They can be based on anything” - like a rock in a pasture.

Links:

A woman -priest spreads her errors.

“And turning, he rebuked them, saying: ‘You know not of what spirit you are.’” - Luke 9: 55

In her book Foundations, St. Teresa of Avila relates the story of a very pious, mortified woman who enjoyed a great reputation for sanctity.  Though very humble, the woman must have exercised much influence in her town and in religious circles.  The woman, who had no regular confessor,  took it upon herself to communicate daily - something rarely heard of in her day.  (Although she alternated churches, going to one, one day, and another the next.) 

In keeping with the custom of the time, St. Teresa and other friends of the woman  thought daily communion may have been excessive and that the woman - of her own accord - would have done well to consider not receiving every day, and instead place herself under obedience.  (I forget the details of why Mother Teresa thought this.)  Of course the woman wouldn’t hear of it, though she appeared to remain quite humble and devout.

At some point the holy woman became very ill and arranged for Mass to be said in her home, so that she might continue to communicate daily.  One day, the priest who celebrated Mass for her, also felt communion on a daily basis was excessive and perhaps inappropriate in such an intimate setting.  The woman protested, becoming very agitated, and then suddenly enraged, or “vexed” as Teresa likes to say, complaining to the priest.  Nevertheless, the priest left without giving in to her wishes.  The woman died that day.  St. Teresa said she did not know if she had been reconciled before she passed away or not.

What’s my point?

I thought of this story after speaking to a woman (who has the reputation of being rather devout), on the phone yesterday afternoon.  I had never met the woman before, but she emailed me requesting I call her so she could share some information with me after reading my blogs.  (Before calling I first checked her out with a friend of mine whom I trust - he assured me she was very good.)  After I called, the woman immediately guaranteed me of her “orthodoxy” and recited her resume of achievements and good works over the years, along with the number of times she goes to Mass each week, as well as the very good priests she is friends with.  Then she proceeded to tell me stories about a local religious order of men, as well as other clerics and lay Catholics, who are homosexuals.  I do not know if any of it was calumny, but it certainly was detraction.

“And turning, he rebuked them, saying: ‘You know not of what spirit you are.’” - Luke 9: 55 

[Art:  Crucified Jesus, attributed to St. Alphonsus Liguori.]    

Remembering our sins…

Some people - even priests - object to me that I too often recall my past sins, since they have already been forgiven and forgotten in the Sacrament of Penance.  Yet they misunderstand what happens to me and assume I cannot let go of the past, or that I have an unhealthy preoccupation with past sins, or worse, they think I doubt the mercy of God.  Of course that is not true, yet I am never able  to explain myself very well…  Until today, when I came across this in John of the Cross:

“God having once done away with our sin and uncleanness, He will look upon them no more; nor will He withhold His mercy because of them, for He never punishes twice for the same sin, according to the words of the prophet: “There shall not rise a double affliction.”

Still, though God forgets the sin He has once forgiven, we are not for that reason to forget it ourselves; for the Wise Man says, “Be not without fear about sin forgiven.”[261] There are three reasons for this. We should always remember our sin, that we may not presume, that we may have a subject of perpetual thanksgiving, and because it serves to give us more confidence that we shall receive greater favors; for if, when we were in sin, God showed Himself to us so merciful and forgiving, how much greater mercies may we not hope for when we are clean from sin, and in His love?

The soul, therefore, calling to mind all the mercies it has received… in this it is helped exceedingly by the recollection of its former condition, which was so mean and filthy that it not only did not deserve that God should look upon it, but was unworthy that He should even utter its name, as He says by the mouth of the prophet David: “Nor will I be mindful of their names by My lips.”[262] Thus the soul, seeing that there was, and that there can be, nothing in itself to attract the eyes of God, but that all comes from Him of pure grace and goodwill, attributes its misery to itself, and all the blessings it enjoys to the Beloved.” - Spiritual Canticle: Stanza 32; Note

“It is not the person who begins, but the one who perseveres unto the end that shall be saved. ” 

 Nothing now remains, dear friends, but for me to encourage you to continue as you have begun. Is it not only by perseverance that people earn their glory, and virtues, their reward? Clearly without it there can be no victory for the soldier or honour for the victor. It is the backbone of character, and the crown of virtue; it is the mother of merits and mediator of rewards. It is the sister of patience, the daughter of endurance, the friend of peace, the link of friendship, the bond of concord, and the bulwark of holiness. Take away perseverance, and service will be without reward, kindness without favour, and valour without renown. It is not the person who begins, but the one who perseveres unto the end that shall be saved.   (Letter 129:2 = B. S. James: n.131:2). - St. Bernard

My thoughts on visions, locutions, and miracles.

The title of this post reads as if I am a total skeptic and dismiss everything miraculous.  If anyone believes that, they would be wrong.  I’m the guy who believes - without doubt - in things a Catholic is not even required to believe in;  the apparitions of Fatima, Lourdes, Rue de Bac; I believe the Shroud of Turin is miraculous, the true image of Christ, I believe the Holy House of Loreto was transported by angels, as was the miraculous image of Our Lady of Good Counsel, and so on.

I believe in all the truths the Holy Catholic Church teaches, that Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament, that the Holy Father is the Vicar of Christ - everything a Catholic is obliged to believe - I believe - without a shred of doubt.  That said, I believe in private revelations only if the Church declares them worthy of belief and gives permission for the “messages” to be propagated.

In the meantime, I am satisfied with not knowing anything.

Normally, as we get older in the spiritual life, no matter if we are very prayerful or not, albeit we ought to be faith-full, our faith becomes more seasoned  - I was going to say practical, but I don’t know if that is the best word either.  What I am trying to say is that the normal rising and falling in our struggle with sin, and through our normal fidelity to grace amidst the suffering of our daily life and duty, we begin to live from faith.  Faith informs, sustains, and consoles us through out life.  Through faith and  love, we live in intimacy - hidden with Christ in God -  it becomes more than enough.

At one stage or another, visions, and extraordinary phenomenon may have delighted our spiritual sensibilities, indeed, they may have inspired us with greater fervor for awhile.  Although some people manage to live their entire lives feeding on the extraordinary - God bless them.

I’ve mentioned it before, but I knew a prioress of a monastery who experienced ongoing locutions, she even tried her hand at exorcisms, and she eventually left enclosed religious life.  Ever since, she has roamed the country founding at least three hermitages that I know of, although she has no contact with any of them after she moved on.  She also happens to be an ardent proponent of Garabandal - a dubious apparition site in Spain with outlandish messages and phenomenon.  I’ve long thought something was “off” with her - she always seemed a little “too spiritual” - and now it seems to me,  her “project” was founded in delusion. 

Mystics popping up all over.  

After the widespread popularity of Medjugorje, numerous pilgrims from all over the world returned to their home countries and claimed to be the recipients of similar apparitions and messages.  People around the globe began having locutions.  Doesn’t that strike anyone else as odd?  Especially when several of these are beginning to be revealed as false?

For instance, Julia Kim in Korea - hoax.  Christina Gallagher in Ireland - hoax.  Brother/Father Gino in Italy - hoax.  Okay - so if they aren’t officially ruled a deliberate hoax,  they have all been deemed not worthy of belief by ecclesial authorities.  As for Medjugorje?  Come on - how long is that going to go on?  Locally, in Minnesota, we have at least two or three mystics that I know of repeating “locutions” - often as vague and generic as the Medjugorje messages.  Are they a hoax?  Are they deluded?  Does it matter?

Mystical novelties. 

Building one’s spiritual life on every novel mystical revelation that comes down the pike, although entertaining and stimulating, is rather  like building a house on sand.  When these things wear out, or they fade away, and especially when they are declared false, what happens to one’s faith?  Do you cling to the false seer, as many people have done with the Bayside and Necedah  apparitions?  Do you end up saying the Pope is a false Pope, or the Vatican is riddled with Masons?  Is that the Roman Catholic faith?  No - it is not.

Anyway - this is why I don’t pay any attention to such things - and I’m speaking for myself here.  Anyone is free to believe this stuff or not, but as for me, I say with St. Therese, “I prefer not to see.”  I’ll let the Desert Fathers finish this for me…

Sayings of the Desert Fathers: 

“The demons, wanting to tempt a hermit, said to him, ‘Would you like to see Christ?’  The hermit answered, ‘A curse be upon you and him by whom you speak.  I believe Jesus Christ when he said, “If anyone says to you, ‘Lo, here is the Christ,’ or ‘Lo, there,’  do not believe him” (Matt. 24:23).’  The demons vanished at these words.”

“They said of another hermit that while he was undergoing temptation in his cell, he saw demons face to face, and despised them.  The devil, seeing himself overcome came and showed himself saying, ‘I am Christ.’  The hermit looked at him, and then shut his eyes.  The devil said, ‘Iam Christ, why have you shut your eyes?’  The hermit answered, ‘I do not want to see Christ in this life, but in the next.’  The devil vanished at these words.”

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