Abbey-Roads2

St. Teresa of Avila on rights.

I often tell you, sisters, and now I want it to be set down in writing, not to forget that we in this house, and for that matter anyone who would be perfect, must flee a thousand leagues from such phrases as: “I had right on my side”; “They had no right to do this to me”; “The person who treated me like this was not right”. God deliver us from such a false idea of right as that! Do you think that it was right for our good Jesus to have to suffer so many insults, and that those who heaped them on Him were right, and that they had any right to do Him those wrongs? I do not know why anyone is in a convent who is willing to bear only the crosses that she has a perfect right to expect: such a person should return to the world, though even there such rights will not be safeguarded. Do you think you can ever possibly have to bear so much that you ought not to have to bear any more? How does right enter into the matter at all? I really do not know. - Way of Perfection

Bad moon arising…

I hear hurricanes ablowin’

I hear the voice of rage and ruin. - CCR

The news seems to be filled with omens - so who needs to look at the moon or the stars, or even apparitions to foretell the future?  “Hypocrites!  If you can interpret the portents of earth and sky, why can you not interpret the present time?” - Luke 12: 56

All righty then.

Gustav is coming - fears for New Orleans are high.  Michael Moore claims this proves there is a God in heaven - although some Christians see such proof another way; and yet nothing will squelch the Grand Old Party scheduled in Minneapolis/St. Paul all next week:  ‘We have been planning this convention for 18 months, and the gavel will go down on Monday.’  (They are not kidding either.)

Russia’s surprising moves continue with the announcement of the Kremlin joining South Ossetia to the One United Russian State - I wonder if Russia will be called the U.S.R. now?  Just one “S” away from the Soviet Union.

While the world is distracted by ostentatious over-spending - focused first on the Chinese Olympics, and then the successive partisan political conventions, following the unprecedented, expensive, and unbearably long campaigns by contenders for the presidential nomination - the U.K. reveals the economy is the worst it has been in 60 years, and that the government is failing to communicate with voters.  Sounds like the United States, huh?  “It’s gonna be a longtime gone.” - A Long Time.

Not to worry though - Iran is keeping the peace - “A senior Iranian military commander has warned that any US or Israeli attack on the Islamic republic would start a new world war,  the state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.”  Although, are they sure it hasn’t begun already? 

And do not forget Orissa burning…  From one of the martyrs:

Carry on.

You better work!

Sarah Palin.  Initially, I was disappointed - she wouldn’t have been my choice, neither would Tim Pawlenty have been.  It only matters what I think if I were to vote - and maybe I will now, and maybe I won’t.

So far what I’ve read of Mrs. Palin sounds good - especially her pro-life stance and proving it by giving birth to a wonderful child with Downs Syndrome.  (I love kids like that!) 

Catholics seem happy about her - Gerald keeps commenting on Vox Nova how hot she is and accuses others of being sexist if they treat that in the negative.  I think he’s sexist for continually pointing out how hot she is.  Just proves we all say stupid stuff - so I better stop while I’m ahead.

What she will not do is steal disgruntled Hillary supporters - she’s pro-life and Hillary isn’t - along with an entire set of other differences… is that really how dumb the Republicans think women are?

They are saying Biden will eat her for lunch - listening to her acceptance speech, I doubt anyone will be able to do that.  Others say she is another Dan Quayle - I think she is far beyond him.  The other question - is she presidential?  (McCain may not live out his term.)  So the question must be asked in response;  “What is presidential?”  George Bush winking at the Queen or massaging the back of Angela Merkl?  I love the video of him dancing with Africans - I could watch it for hours. 

Yeah, so I have one thing to say to Mrs. Palin:  “You better work!”  LOL!

(I think she is a wonderful choice BTW.)

I don’t know how I did it but I linked to Sancte Pater and got the video of President Bush dancing to work.  I hope that is okay Vincenzo.

By 2015 deaths will out number births in Europe.

Whenever I read news stories concerning the rapid decline in European population, I cannot help but wonder if Our Lady of Fatima may have been referring to de-population as a form of annhilation.  She obviously said “nations will be annihilated” and the recent study from Eurostat is concerned with the various nationalities of peoples.  As everyone knows, the influx of Muslims into Europe is growing, and will be capable of replacing not only people of European descent, but religion as well.

London, Aug 29, 2008 / 01:36 am (CNA).- Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical service, has released a report indicating that by the year 2015, deaths in the region will outnumber births, and that by the year 2060, for every person above the age of 65 there will only be two people of working age.

According to the BBC, this severe demographic winter, the result of the drop in the birth rate and the increase in abortions in many countries of the European Union, will lead to a continual decrease in Europe’s population starting in the year 2035. - CNA

“The Lord brings to naught the plans of the nations;  he foils the designs of the peoples.” - Psalm 33

Herod and the martyrdom of the Baptist.

The Gospel tells us Herod feared John, “knowing him to be a righteous and holy man.”  Which suggests that he had a great respect for the prophet as well.  We are told “When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him.”  Thus we know Herod admired John, and loved to listen to his preaching, perhaps enthralled with his wisdom and inspired by his spirituality.  Herod obviously liked the study of theology and religion.  Nevertheless, his conscience must have been uneasy at some of what John taught, and not just with the reprimand John gave as regards Herod’s adultery.  It seems to me if Herod had not been in an irregular relationship condemned by John, he perhaps would have been one of John’s converts. 

Obviously it was his self-indulgence and worldly cares that got the better of him, despite his liking for religious things and his brand of  idiorhythmic spirituality.  A man ruled by his lusts, anxious for the respect of men, he beheaded the Baptist because of a rash promise.  He eliminated his adversary.  Imprisoning John couldn’t silence him, or reverse the condemnation of Herod’s inordinate affections - it couldn’t change the fact that Herod was publicly living a sinful life.  Herod couldn’t amend God’s law.  The martyrdom of John verified the Truth even more explicitly, and revealed how debauched and pathetic the deluded Herod really was.  With the Baptist gone, Herod’s adultery went unchallenged, and a false freedom of conscience reigned in his court.

Compromise.

Today we have Catholics - many of whom are  out and out ‘dissidents’, who have the form of religion - in fact they love religion, theology and spirituality, with all the degrees to prove it - yet Church teaching and authority gets in the way of their lifestyle or agenda.  Their power is not absolute - so they can’t behead anyone who contradicts them.  Instead they work to twist the truth, preserving elements of what ‘works’ for their purposes, and strive to justify their immorality through compromise.

The preaching of John the Baptist, the message of Christ and the Gospel, now transmitted through the Church, is a call to repentance and conversion.  It isn’t an affirmation of sinful lifestyles and habits at variance with Natural Law and the Commandments.  We as individuals are called to change our lives, we cannot change God or His Law to suit ourselves.  No matter how intricate our theology, how enlightened our spirituality, or how much we enjoy liturgy and religious things, there is an obedience we owe to God, without regard to human respect.

Impenitence.

I find it interesting that Herod continued to be fascinated by religion after the death of John, which is demonstrated by his curiosity about Jesus.  He was anxious to see Jesus after Pilot sent the Lord to him during the Passion.  He was hoping to see some miracle.  Yet the blood of John sealed his heart in impenitence, and he was unable to recognize Christ - he couldn’t perceive even a glimmer of Christ’s holiness.  It is kind of frightening.

Some people love religion, without loving the Truth.

Actually crawling to Mass!

An unbaptized African woman without legs, crawled two miles to Mass every Sunday…

Valencia, Aug 28, 2008 / 01:42 am (CNA).- The Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly in Chissano (Mozambique) took into their home this week a 25 year-old African young girl named Olivia, who despite not being baptized at the time and not having any legs, crawled 2.5 miles every Sunday to attend Mass. - Source

I am going to lose it now!

She couldn’t receive communion because she was unbaptized - how many people won’t go to Mass because for one reason or another they cannot receive communion?  How many people sleep in because they have a headache and skip Mass?  And this woman, without legs, crawled 2 miles to hear Mass.  She puts me to shame.

And detraction and calumny.

While reading an article defending the chastity and reputation of the Servant of God Cardinal Newman, the author referred to the accusations by contemporary gay activist, Peter Tatchill, as “coarse talk”.  Indeed such coarse talk is very common today, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, any talk about homosexuality in Newman’s day would rarely be mentioned in polite society, or outside a confessional.  It was a vice widely regarded with revulsion, in fact the term homosexual was invented in the mid 19th century, when medical science initially began to investigate its causes and courts were convicting people because of anti-sodomy laws.

Regarding Newman.

… the sense of a brutish 21st-century mentality being violently thrust upon a 19th-century individual of a very different cast of mind, the posthumous rape of a particularly delicate sensibility by a particularly coarse one…

Obviously the term “partner” he wouldn’t have understood at all - but then the words “gay” and indeed “homosexual” didn’t mean anything at the time. Homosexual acts were familiar to even the most sheltered soul in Oxford and Newman would have rejected the suggestion that he engaged in them with revulsion. - Timesonline

Now onto political mud-slinging.

As everyone in the United States knows, coarse talk is no longer restricted to the lower classes - it has become mainstream.  It is everywhere in media and entertainment, and never more obviously employed than in an election year, when opposing candidates are liberally defamed and calumniated by one another and their respective supporters - and us. 

The Obamanations.

The Obamas are perfect examples.  No, not what the mainstream media is doing, or what the Republicans are doing - but what we are doing - average Americans.  Because they are an affluent, professionally successful,  black couple - albeit recast as the “black Kennedy’s” - they are prime targets for racial stereo-typical humor.  If you surf the net, work in an office, or are on someones joke email circuit - you have seen the jokes and the photo-shopped images.  And yes - some are hysterical, simply because they are so opposite of who and what the Obama’s are and what they have achieved - and yet something deep down in white people still won’t let them get by with that without putting them in their place.  That said, it is akin to coarse talk, detraction, and calumny - somehow justified because the killing of unborn infants is an atrocity beneath contempt…

Pelosi-tics.

Then there is Nancy.  It is one thing to offer fraternal correction - especially when it is judiciously provided by the USCCB - yet it is quite another to rip her to shreds like the old hags of Paris (Les tricoteuses) did during the French Revolution, as the victims were goaded on their way to the guillotine.  The same with Sen. Biden - perhaps out of fear of death he once asked the doctors if he could keep his rosary under his pillow before going into surgery.  And now he is mocked for such a personal act of piety - by Catholics who should know better.

Mea culpa.  

I’m as guilty of coarse talk as the next blogger - and yes indeed - I laugh too.  But as Catholics we still need to respect the dignity of the human person and their faith - no matter how disordered, distorted or convoluted.  And yes - we need to point out errors when we see them, especially when those promoting error claim to speak for the Church, or when the proper authorities (bishops) do not defend the faith - but we should leave the mocking and sneering and coarse talk to the devil who inspires such antagonism.     

Husbands in trouble used to do them…

Kind of.  Remember when married men used to get kicked out of bed by their wives when the Mrs. was mad at them?  Maybe it was just a sitcom thing - but if real - it could have been a good penance.

No one kicked me out of bed.

I sometimes do silly penances.  Last night I decided to sit outside in the rain storm, without protection, to see what it would be like if I were homeless and had no shelter.  I realized only a fool would sit out in the rain without protection, and recalled how more fortunate homeless people sometimes sleep in their cars - while they still have them.  So I locked up the house and took the car out and found a nice place to sleep.

I know!

The nearby street lamp shone in my face, so I moved the car to a darker street.   I folded back the passenger’s seat as far as it would go, and made a pillow out of a winter hat and scarf.  After praying for awhile, I tried to go to sleep - I have a Honda Civic and I’m a big guy - so it was not very comfortable.  The rain intensified accompanied by fabulous lightning all around, but I just couldn’t get comfortable.  Around midnight I went back home and slept in my bed.  I’ll never be a good homeless person.

Summer camp.

I know it is a weird thing to do, but on occasion I’ll  deliberately inconvenience myself in order to understand what it feels like to have nothing left, not even your dignity.  So I did an “urban camp-out” last night, despite the fact the experience was not authentic - because I really do have a place to live - and I also had my identification in my pocket if the police stopped by.

“Oh yes - we love living in our car - it is so convenient.” - Imaginative response from a potential game show contestant.

Although I never persevere through a night - winter nights are the worst - I always understand that homeless people do not choose to be homeless and enjoy sleeping in a cardboard box or their car - or the gutter.  Some crazy ones say they ‘like the independence’, and many of us only remember those who make such hollow claims and repeat with conviction:  “They say they want to live on the street - they would prefer that over a shelter.”  Or, ”Many homeless choose  to live on the street - they like it.”  (Poor people, even those with mental disorders, often say such things in order to salvage their dignity.) 

“It’s the economy stupid!”  - Tagline from an election several terms back. 

So what is more strange?  Sleeping in one’s car for a penance in a lame attempt to understand - perhaps even share a little experience with the homeless, or claiming the homeless like their homeless poverty - and “especially in summer - it isn’t bad at all when it is nice out.”?

Coming to a neighborhood near you.

Please don’t forget the poor and the homeless and the shelters and charities who care for them just because it is nice out…  Especially since many more people are losing their homes now days in this harsh economy.

St. Joseph, who always found lodging for Mary and Jesus, help the poor and the homeless, and those of us who have nowhere to lay our head, and who are alone and afflicted. 

Benedict XV

I hate to be so pessimistic, but the world rejected the Papal Peace proposed by Pope Benedict XV and continued with WWI, so will anyone listen to Pope Benedict XVI in these challenging times?  In his recent Angelus address, the Holy Father made this plea:

“Recent tensions on the international scene are a cause for lively concern, says Benedict XVI.

“We must note, with bitterness, the threat of a progressive deterioration in the climate of confidence and cooperation that should characterize relations between nations,” the Pontiff said.

“We must deepen the awareness of being united by a common destiny, that, in the final analysis, is a transcendent destiny, to avert the return to nationalistic conflicts that in other historical periods have had such tragic consequences,” the Bishop of Rome continued. “The recent events have weakened the confidence in many that such experiences had been consigned to the past.” - Benedict XVI Laments Growing World Tensions