Saturday, May 15, 2010

Gospel for Sunday, Solemnity: The Ascension of the Lord

From: Lk 24:46-53

Jesus' Last Instructions And Leave-Taking

[46] And (Jesus) said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, [47] and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. [48] You are witness of these things. [49] And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but say in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high."

The Ascension of Our Lord
[50] Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands be blessed them. [51] While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. [52] And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, [53] and were continually in the temple blessing God.
_______________

Commentary:
44-49. St. Matthew stresses that the Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in Christ, because his immediate audience was Jews, who would accept this as proof that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah.; St Luke does not usually argue along these lines because he is writing for Gentiles; however, in this epilogue he does report, in a summarized way, Christ's statement to the effect that everything foretold about him had come true. By doing so he shows the unity of Old and New Testaments and that Jesus is truly the Messiah.

44-49. St. Matthew stresses that the Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in Christ, because his immediate audience was Jews, who would accept this as proof that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah.; St Luke does not usually argue along these lines because he is writing for Gentiles; however, in this epilogue he does report, in a summarized way, Christ's statement to the effect that everything foretold about him had come true. By doing so he shows the unity of Old and New Testaments and that Jesus is truly the Messiah.

St. Luke also refers to the promise of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7ff), whose fulfilment on the day of Pentecost he will narrate in detail in the Book of Acts (cf. Acts 2:1-4).

46.From St. Luke's account we have seen how slow the apostles were to grasp Jesus' prophecy of his death and resurrection (cf. 9:45; 18:34). Now that the prophecy is fulfilled Jesus reminds them that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead (cf. Acts 2:1-4).

The Cross is a mystery, in our own life as well as in Christ's "Jesus suffers to carry out the will of the Father. And you, who also want to carry out the most holy will of God, following the steps of the Master, can you complain if you meet suffering on the way? (St. J. Escriva, The Way, 213) 49.

"I send the promise of my Father upon you," that is, the Holy Spirit who, some days later, at Pentecost, would come down upon them in the cenacle (cf. Acts 2:1-4) as the Father's gift to them (cf. Lk 11:13).

50-53 St. Luke, who will report our Lord's ascension in the Acts of the Apostles, here gives a summary account of this mystery which marks the end of Jesus's visible presence on earth. St Thomas Aquinas explains that it was inappropriate for Christ to remain on earth after the Resurrection, whereas it was appropriate that he should ascend into heaven, because, although his risen body was already a glorified one, it now receives an increase in glory due to the dignity of the place to which it ascends (cf. Summa theologiae, 3, q. 57 a. 1).

"Our Lord's Ascension also reminds us of another fact. The same Christ, who encourages us to carry out our task in the world, awaits us in heaven. In other words, our life on earth, which we love, is not definitive. 'Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come' (Heb 13:14), a changeless home, where we may live forever. […] Christ awaits us. We are 'citizens of heaven' (Phil 3:20), and at the same time fully-fledged citizens of this earth, in the midst of difficulties, injustices and lack of understanding, but also in the midst of the joy and serenity that comes from knowing that we are children of God" (St. J. Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 126).

We have come to the end of St. Luke's narrative. Words cannot express the gratitude and love we feel when we reflect on Christ's life among us. Let us offer God our desire to be ever more faithful children and disciples of his, as we savor this summary of Christ's life given us by the Magisterium: "We believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. He is the eternal Word born of the Father before time began […]. He dwelt among us full of grace and truth. He announced and established the Kingdom of God, enabling us to know the Father. He gave us the commandment that we should love one another as he loved us. He taught us the way of the Gospel Beatitudes, according to which we were to be poor in spirit and humble, bearing suffering in patience, thirsting after justice, merciful, clean of heart, peaceful, enduring persecution for justice's sake. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, the Lamb of God taking to himself the sins of the world, and he died for us, nailed to the Cross, saving us by this redeeming blood. After he had been buried he rose from the dead of his own power, lifting us by his Resurrection to that sharing in the divine life which is grace. He ascended into heaven whence he will come again to judge the living and the dead, each according to his merits. Those who have responded to the love and compassion of God will go into eternal life. Those who have refused them to the end will be consigned to the fire that is never extinguished. And of his kingdom there will be no end" (Paul VI, Creed of the People of God, 11f).
_________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

Principles and Practices - May 16

A Great Proof

It is no small proof of virtue to live a good life among the depraved, to preserve the pureness of innocence, and gentleness of character, among the evil-disposed; it is still a greater one to be peaceful with those who are hostile to peace, and to show yourself a friend to your enemies themselves.

-St. Bernard.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

The School of Love & Other Essays, May 15

THE SCHOOL OF LOVE

[continued from yesterday]

...Yes, as we have already said, when we look at love aright we see that to love demands great courage.

To love perfectly is the greatest heroism; even lesser heroism is what it is because of the love that inspires it.

There is something terrible in love. It is exacting, it is almost merciless; it will have the whole or nothing; above all it will have no rapine in the holocaust; it wilI abide no giving with one hand, and taking back with the other.

If you would love well and deeply you must be prepared to lose; to "lay down your life for your friend"; and to lay down if need be everything that is of less moment than life.

What in matter of fact you may be asked for you do not know. It may be the laying down of life; it may be the taking of it up. It may be the torture of wounds; it may perhaps be the greater torture of ministering to the wounds of others. It may be action, it may be its opposite, inaction and endurance.

"Those also serve who only stand and wait." But undoubtedly it will be something, and you will not be consulted as to what it shall be.

Does the prospect appal you?

If it does, very well; but be assured there is no other road to the real understanding of love. If it does not, if in spite of the dread there is still hope and courage, if you can still say that love can find strength to do whatever love may demand, if you would know by experience the meaning of love, then make your prepara­tions.

Put a check upon self-seeking, on self-gratification, on looking for self-reward, and you have cleared the ground.

Be led by something more than mere argument, mere reasoning of your own, that dead and fallacious thing that is the offspring of man's short sight; see without turning aside, submit to without drawing back, be guided by without flinching, the compe11ing force of truth in it­self, of nobility in itself, of beauty in itseH, of goodness in itself, wherever these may be found....

[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918

Friday, May 14, 2010

Gospel for Saturday, 6th Week of Easter

From: John 16:23b-28

Fullness of Joy (Continuation)
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [23b] Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My name. [24] Hitherto you have asked nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

[25] "I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. [26] In that day you will ask in My name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; [27] for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from the Father. [28] I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father."
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Commentary:
25-30. As can be seen also from other passages in the Gospels, Jesus spent time explaining His doctrine in more detail to His Apostles than to the crowd (cf. Mark 4:10-12 and paragraph)--to train them for their mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world (cf. Matthew 28:18-20). However, our Lord also used metaphors or parables when imparting instruction to the Apostles, and He does so in this discourse of the Last Supper--the vine, the woman giving birth, etc.: He stimulates their curiosity and they, because they do not understand, ask Him questions (cf. verses 17-18). Jesus now tells them that the time is coming when He will speak to them in a completely clear way so that they will know exactly what He means. This He will do after the Resurrection (cf. Acts 1:3). But even now, since He knows their thoughts, He is making it ever plainer to them that He is God, for only God can know what is happening inside someone (cf. 2:25). Verse 28, "I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father" summarizes the mystery of Christ's Person (cf. John 1:14; 20:31).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Principles and Practices - May 15

Tenderness a Necessity

Now, if Our Lord is our model, and if His spirit be ours, it is plain that a Christian-like tenderness must make a deep impression upon our spiritual life, and indeed give it its prin­ciple, tone, and character.

Without tenderness we can never have that spirit of generosity in which we saw that we must serve God.

It is as necessary to our interior life or our relation with God as it is to our exterior life or relation with others; and there is one gift of the Holy Ghost, namely, piety, whose special office it is to confer this tenderness.

-Father Faber.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

The School of Love & Other Essays, May 14

THE SCHOOL OF LOVE

[continued from yesterday]

...Thirdly, love is a restless thing.

Idleness and love are incompatible; love cannot go to sleep. This does not necessarily mean the activity that men usually understand; it need not be doing anything; but it means that it is ever awake and on fire within the depths of its own heart.

What it can give it gives; it longs to give what it cannot; it bankrupts itself, and counts its bankruptcy gain; it glories in so having nothing, for the very having nothing proves that it is master of all.
"The kingdom of heaven is likened to a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had ­and bought it."
Of course this does not mean that love leads inevitably to poverty.

Sometimes it does; sometimes it demands a surrender even of the things of earth. A husband gives all to his wife, a wife to her husband; many a man has beggared himself for love of a noble cause.

Still these are but the trappings of love, which may or may not be present; a millionaire can love as well as a pauper; where love leads a pauper can give as much as a millionaire.

For it is the gift of oneself that matters; the gift of a human heart, its homage, its reverence, its service, the out­pouring of itself, in whatever condition it may be placed, the giving of its life, whether that life is destined to live on or is demanded as a present sacrifice.

"Christ loved me, and gave Himself for me," says St. Paul dumb­founded at the holocaust; and he answers with an eloquence that will hardly find its match in literature: "I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So does true love impel; love impels to love; love impelled to love has love for its reward; its beginning and its end is only love.

Is my love of this nature? For this is the third and final test.

[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918

Thursday, May 13, 2010

New Updates, May 13

Pope blasts gay marriage as 'insidious and dangerous'...

Catholic schoolchildren told to dress as Muslims
Girl marked 'truant' for not wearing headscarf

Venezuela arrests suspects in US priest's slaying
Washington native served in S America for 23 years

Pope rallies priests as crowds flock to Fatima
Warns Portugal's cultural elite of increasing secularism

Lesbian mom: Son rejected from Catholic school
Woman says priest, principal informed her Of Denial

Pope urges Portuguese to oppose gay marriage law
Warns legislation is 'insidious' threat to society

Brazil Church says sex abuse by clergy is a crime
Stating the obvious: Cases should not be covered up

Vermont diocese to pay $17.6 million to victims
Settling 26 lawsuits over alleged abuse by clergy

Empire State Building snubs Mother Teresa
Request to pay tribute with light display denied

Why God is dead at the Supreme Court
Obama's message: Religious identity unimportant

==== Other Issues ====

US faces same problems as Greece, says Bank of England
Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, fears that America shares many of the same fiscal problems currently haunting Europe. He also believes that European Union must become a federalised fiscal union (in other words with central power to tax and spend) if it is to survive...

Senator says Kagan critical of US Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee Elena Kagan criticized the court she is seeking to join during a private meeting on Thursday with Democratic Senator Arlen Specter, the senator told reporters.

Gospel for May 14, Feast: St. Matthias, Apostle

From: John 15:9-17

The Vine and the Branches (Continuation)
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [9] "As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you; abide in My love. [10] If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. [11] These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

The Law of Love
[12] "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are My friends if you do what I command you. [15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you. [17] This I command you, to love one another."
________________

Commentary:
9-11. Christ's love for Christians is a reflection of the love the Three Divine Persons have for one another and for all men: "We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

The certainty that God loves us is the source of Christian joy (verse 11), but it is also something which calls for a fruitful response on our part, which should take the form of a fervent desire to do God's will in everything, that is, to keep His commandments, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who did the will of His Father (cf. John 4:34).

12-15. Jesus insists on the "new commandment", which He Himself keeps by giving His life for us. See note on John 13:34-35.

Christ's friendship with the Christian, which our Lord expresses in a very special way in this passage, is something very evident in [St] Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer's preaching: "The life of the Christian who decides to behave in accordance with the greatness of his vocation is so to speak a prolonged echo of those words of our Lord, `No longer do I call you My servants; a servant is one who does not understand what his master is about, whereas I have made known to you all that My Father has told Me; and so I have called you My friends' (John 15:15). When we decide to be docile and follow the will of God, hitherto unimagined horizons open up before us.... `There is nothing better than to recognize that Love has made us slaves of God. From the moment we recognize this we cease being slaves and become friends, sons' ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 35).

"Sons of God, FRIENDS OF GOD.... Jesus is truly God and truly Man, He is our Brother and our Friend. If we make the effort to get to know Him well `we will share in the joy of being God's friends' ["ibid.", 300]. If we do all we can to keep Him company, from Bethlehem to Calvary, sharing His joys and sufferings, we will become worthy of entering into loving conversation with Him. As the Liturgy of the Hours sings, "calicem Domini biberunt, et amici Dei facti sunt" (they drank the chalice of the Lord and so became friends of God).

"Being His children and His friends are two inseparable realities for those who love God. We go to Him as children, carrying on a trusting dialogue that should fill the whole of our lives; and we go to Him as friends.... In the same way our divine sonship urges us to translate the overflow of our interior life into apostolic activity, just as our friendship with God leads us to place ourselves at `the service of all men. We are called to use the gifts God has given us as instruments to help others discover Christ' ["ibid.", 258]" (Monsignor A. del Portillo in his preface to [St] J. Escriva's, "Friends of God").

16. There are three ideas contained in these words of our Lord. One, that the calling which the Apostles received and which every Christian also receives does not originate in the individual's good desires but in Christ's free choice. It was not the Apostles who chose the Lord as Master, in the way someone would go about choosing a rabbi; it was Christ who chose them. The second idea is that the Apostles' mission and the mission of every Christian is to follow Christ, to seek
holiness and to contribute to the spread of the Gospel. The third teaching refers to the effectiveness of prayer done in the name of Christ; which is why the Church usually ends the prayers of the liturgy with the invocation "Through Jesus Christ our Lord...".

The three ideas are all interconnected: prayer is necessary if the Christian life is to prove fruitful, for it is God who gives the growth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:7); and the obligation to seek holiness and to be apostolic derives from the fact that it is Christ Himself who has given us this mission. "Bear in mind, son, that you are not just a soul who has joined other souls in order to do a good thing.

"That is a lot, but it's still little. You are the Apostle who is carrying out an imperative command from Christ" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 942).
__________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Principles and Practices - May 14

Be Assured

When the children of God are tried by fire, nothing should be further from their thoughts than that they are alone.

It may be said, speaking generally, that the word isolation is un­christian: but when it refers to a case of suffering and self-immolation, it is still more untrue.

Be careful never to think that your pains are of no account, that the silent conflict, borne in loving patience, can remain barren.

Your sufferings are the common treasures of mankind (united with Christ).

And on the day when all things are revealed you will meet this or that unknown brother whose beatitude you have purchased.

-Abbe Perreyve.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

The School of Love & Other Essays, May 13

THE SCHOOL OF LOVE

[continued from yesterday]

...Let us see....

If what has been said is sound, then the less my love has a thought for itself so much the more true it is.

It seeks not its own, it is not for mere pleasure that it loves; nor for the pleasurable consequences, unless it be the joy of its nature fulfilled, the joy of giving and of sacrifice.

Sweetness indeed may be there, and sweetness of such kind as alone deserves the name. But not on its account is love pursued; to pursue it for its sake is the throttling of love, making it a slave instead of a master, using it for some other end when it is itself the noblest and only end of all.

Is my love of this calibre?

Secondly, if my love does not stir me, or stirs me but a very little, less than many other motives which make their impress on me, then is it tending to die.

A stoic, ancient or modern, who boasts of being above emotion, who acts by his reason and that only, who prides himself on doing his duty, has triumphed over love, scotched it if he has not killed it; it is a gruesome triumph, the triumph of the polar ice over the underlying land.

Beauty there may be of a kind, beauty, and strength, and stillness; but life, and warmth, and growth, and fruitfulness there can be none.

But love stirs all the strings upon the human heart; sometimes, even, it sweeps its master-hand across them and stirs them all together so that the poor, dear, envi­able human creature is all joy and all agony at once.

Because they are not its own, because they are the joys and the sorrows of others, they are multiplied beyond control, each beating up against the other, sometimes in harmony, sometimes in discord, but always throbbing with a sympathy that others instinctively detect; till at last the poor, loving heart does not know itself, does not know whether to call itself happy or distressed, tossed as it is upon the billows of emotion, torn by the cries, scorched by the tears, of all the creatures it loves, wonders at itself and its capacity for suffering, asks itself, tremb­ling, whether after all it has chosen the right path, is consoled by nothing that others understand by consolation, and sees only death as its escape from the whirl and tangle of emotion.

To how many lives of loving saints is not this the key ?

Is it not the key to the Heart of Christ Himself, and to His agony in the garden?

Is it the key to my heart?...

[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Gospel for Thursday, 6th Week of Easter

Optional Memorial: Our Lady of Fatima

From: John 16:16-20

Fullness of Joy
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [16] "A little while, and you will see Me no more; again a little while, and you will see Me." [17] Some of His disciples said to one another, "What is this that He says to us, `A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, `because I go to the Father'?" [18] They said, "What does He mean by `a little while'? We do not know what He means." [19] Jesus knew they wanted to ask Him; so He said to them, "Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, `A little while and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'? [20] Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy."
_____________________________

Commentary:
16-20. Earlier our Lord consoled the disciples by assuring them that He would send them the Holy Spirit after He went away (verse 7). Now He gives them further consolation: He is not leaving them permanently, He will come back to stay with them. However, the Apostles fail to grasp what He means, and they ask each other what they make of it. Our Lord does not give them a direct explanation, perhaps because they would not understand what He meant (as happened before: cf. Matthew 16:21-23 and paragraph). But He does emphasize that though they are sad now they will soon be rejoicing: after suffering tribulation they will be filled with a joy they will never lose (cf. John 17:13). This is a reference primarily to the Resurrection (cf. Luke 24:41), but also to their definitive encounter with Christ in Heaven.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

News Updates, 5/12

Lesbian prof responds to Marquette controversy
'Jesuit values' have been at 'center of my evolution'

Raquel Welch: the Pill made us amoral
Says contraception led to sea change in moral values

Muhammad cartoonist 'head-butted' during lecture
Protesters interrupted his lecture on 'free speech'

Pope urges Portugal to rediscover Christian roots
Key theme of message to increasingly secularized Europe

Pope discusses religious freedom in Portugal
Catholic Church learning to live with 'other truths'

New Milwaukee bishop behind Marquette decision?
Faculty demands to know why lesbian dean offer nixed

Austrian bishop questions celibacy
Say it should be up to priests to decide about sex

NY archbishop on crusade to save Catholic schools
Long, slow decline has forced consolidations and closures

==== Other Issues ====

Principles and Practices - May 13

Advantages of Pure Love

The practice of pure love consists in acting with the intention of loving God for Himself, rather than from the fear of punishment or the hope of a reward, although these two motives are not to be despised.

Pure love thus understood is as rare as it is precious, and I should like to give it to you.

O Child of predilection! I advise you to beg from me this gold purified in the fire, suadeo tibi emere a me aurum ignitum..

-Andre Prevot, D.D., S.C.J.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

The School of Love & Other Essays, May 12

THE SCHOOL OF LOVE

[continued from yesterday]

...Such is a loving nature, as it comes from the hand of God: the development of that nature is the meaning of this life. It may be culti­vated and fostered so that it may become capable of ever more and more; it may be clipped and dwarfed so that in the end it droops into a pitiable weed; it may be grown on artificial lines, pruned into a caricature of nature, so that it develops like those box-wood or yew-tree imitations of birds, or animals, or chairs, which in an artificial age were once thought to be beautiful.

And if it may be cultivated, then obviously it will be along the three lines which have been already pointed out. If true love is dis­interested, then he who would cultivate the power of loving will cultivate disinterested­ness.

If true love is moved by strong emo­tion, then the devotee of love will let himself be drawn by emotion as well as by reason, however much reason may hold the reins; will not submit to be imprisoned in his own shallow argumentation narrowed down by his own blinking vision; will overleap himself in his esteem of and longing for objects more pre­cious than himself.

Lastly, and consequently, the man who would truly love, and know to the full what it means, will beware of that timid limping thing which sometimes parades, and hides its littleness, under the name of prudence. He will have a large horizon, reaching out beyond the range of life. He will learn the art of giving, with a hand outspread, as if all he had were but for this pur­pose. He will live with a large and unflinching generosity, revelling in the freedom from pettiness of whatever kind, "envying not, dealing not perversely, seeking not his own," but always "rejoicing with the truth."

This is the atmosphere in which love grows.

In the same way may I test and examine such degree of love as I possess; for little as it is, that it is none I will not allow. St. Teresa once described hell as "the place where there is no love"; and in spite of all its miseries my soul has not yet come to that.

Crawling and bleeding though it be from many wounds, there is yet life in it; and if life, then love.

But has that love grown straight or crooked?

Is it growing straight or crooked now?

Is it wholly true, or is it partly true and partly false?

And if the latter, is the false so grow­ing on the true that the flower is becoming blighted, the fruit rotting at the core, how­ever fair it may seem without?

Let us see....

[continued tomorrow]

___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

News Updates, 5/12

Kagan Helped Keep Partial-Birth Abortion Legal Longer, Pro-Life Group Says
Washington, DC -- While mainstream media outlets misrepresent a legal memo Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan wrote during her tenure with the Clinton administration, a pro-life group says the reality is that Kagan's memo helped ensure partial-birth abortions stayed legal six years longer.

Obama nominee supports taxpayer-funded abortion
Has strong ties to abortion-advocacy organizations

Bishops who shelter abusers go unpunished
In US only Cardinal Law has stepped down over scandal

Controversial crucifix pastor reassigned
San Damiano cross showed genitalia on Jesus' torso

Uganda orders arrest of priest over rape
Possibly infected two girls with HIV

Catholic group has 'grave concerns' about Kagan
Supreme Court already being met with criticism

Pope issues most direct words to date on abuse
'Sins inside the Church' pose greatest threat

Dublin bishop disheartened by abuse response
Says Church needs to begin 'painful path of renewal'

Fatima debate: Was 'third secret' revealed?
Some still pressing for 'consecration of Russia'

Catholic education in 'mission confusion'
Number of schools shrinks along with student population

Socialism is Evil [video-You Tube, Real Catholic TV]
Dissidents in the Church are promoting socialism AND they must be stopped

Solve the organ shortage with euthanasia, says leading bioethicist
It was only a matter of time before someone would construct a serious formal argument for solving the growing organ shortage by euthanasing brain-dead or unconscious. It has finally happened. The only surprise is that it has been made by an Oxford don who is the editor of the leading journal, Bioethics....
[Demonic ghouls roam the earth]

==== Other ====

Investigators: Obama using Connecticut Soc. Sec. Number
3 experts insist White House answer new questions about documentation

Help Expose Elena Kagan, Obama's Pro-Abortion Supreme Court Nominee
No matter what President Obama and his allies will claim, abortion was a litmus test in nominating Kagan to the Supreme Court. Obama recently said "...I want somebody who is going to be interpreting our Constitution in a way that takes into account individual rights, and that includes women's rights, and that is going to be something that is very important to me."

Health overhaul law potentially costs $115B more
President Barack Obama's new health care law could potentially add at least $115 billion more to government health care spending over the next 10 years, congressional budget referees said Tuesday. If Congress approves all the additional spending called for in the legislation, it would push the ten-year cost of the overhaul above $1 trillion — an unofficial limit the Obama administration set early on.

Senate rejects Freddie Mac caps
The Senate on Tuesday rejected a controversial measure introduced by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would have ended the government's control of mortgage finance giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae within two years of the enactment of the overall bank reform legislation. Fannie and Freddie have been under government control since September, 2008....
[Congress gets prepared for another Freddie and Fannie Bailout]

CNBC’s Rick Santelli Rips Key Democrat For Ignoring Fannie/Freddie Reform
Democrats still don’t get it, and they refuse to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government mortgage companies that sparked the meltdown by giving high-risk loans to people who couldn’t afford it. Standing up for American taxpayers, CNBC’s on-air editor, Rick Santelli teed off on Rep. Paul Kanjorski’s (D-PA) claim that Democrats’ couldn’t reform Fannie & Freddie in their financial regulation bill because it was “too complicated,” asking: “It’s too complicated? You think taxpayers that go to work to pay the money you are subsidizing, it will end up a half a trillion, do you think they think complicated is an excuse?”


=====================

*** Missouri Health Care Freedom Act Passes Final Hurdle *** (No link)

The Missouri Health Care Freedom Act passed it's final legislative hurdle in the Missouri House today. The bill SS SCS HCS HB 1764 was a compromise bill coming out of a Joint Senate and House Conference Committee after the Missouri Senate passed it's own Version of SS SCR25, The Health Care Freedom Act, last week. The Missouri Senate substitute bill changed the language of the bill, taking it to a vote of the people as a change in state statute, as opposed to the passed House Version that took the vote to the people of Missouri as a Constitutional Amendment. The committee compromise changed the house version to the Senate language changing state statute by voter approval.

The measure, which was debated for about 2 hours on the House floor passed by a wide 108-47 margin. This bill will now be taken to a vote of Missouri citizens in the August Primary.

The language of the bill "A LAW OR RULE SHALL NOT COMPEL, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, ANY PERSON, EMPLOYER, OR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM." A PERSON OR EMPLOYERS MAY PAY DIRECTLY, AND SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO PAY PENALTIES OR FINES FOR PAYING DIRECTLY FOR LAWFUL HEALTH CARE SERVICES.' "SUBJECT TO REASONABLE AND NECESSARY RULES THAT DO NOT SUBSTANTIALLY LIMIT A PERSONS' OPTIONS, THE PURCHASE OR SALE OF HEALTH INSURANCE IN PRIVATE HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS SHALL NOT BE PROHIBITED BY LAW".

This bill is a direct challenge to the federal health care bill rejected overwhelmingly by the American citizens, and conceived under the cover of darkness behind closed doors. Missouri now Joins the Commonwealth of Virginia, Florida and Oklahoma in the constitutional challenge protecting Sovereign State's Rights.

The final stage of this measure will be a vote of the people on August 4th in the State wide Primary election. It is important that not only Missourians, but all Americans join the fight to pass this once and for all. The opponents are already organizing with their money. Missouri sovereignty will need much financial assistance from All Americans to be a light house for freedom from government tyranny.
===========================

Gospel for Wednesday, 6th Week of Easter

Optional Memorial: St Nereus and St Achilleus, Martyrs
Optional Memorial: St Pancras, Martyr


From: John 16:12-15

The Action of the Holy Spirit (Continuation)
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [12] "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. [13] When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. [14] He will glorify Me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you. [15] All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you."
______________________

Commentary:
13. It is the Holy Spirit who makes fully understood the truth revealed by Christ. As Vatican II teaches, our Lord "completed and perfected Revelation and confirmed it...finally by sending the Spirit of truth" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 4). Cf. note on John 14:25-26.

14-15. Jesus Christ here reveals some aspects of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. He teaches that the Three Divine Persons have the same nature when He says that everything that the Father has belongs to the Son, and everything the Son has belongs to the Father (cf. John 17:10) and that the Spirit also has what is common to the Father and the Son, that is, the divine essence. The activity specific to the Holy Spirit is that of glorifying Christ, reminding and clarifying for the disciples everything the Master taught them (John 16:13). On being inspired by the Holy Spirit to recognize the Father through the Son, men render glory to Christ; and glorifying Christ is the same as giving glory to God (cf. John 17:1, 3-5, 10).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Principles and Practices - May 12

Why Prayer is Necessary

It is necessary in order to regain the friendship of God, if we have lost our baptismal grace by falling into mortal sin.

If we have preserved that grace undefiled, it is still necessary for maintaining, strengthening, and developing our intimacy with God by means of the frequent exercise of the theological virtues.

And finally, it is necessary for the overcoming temptation which entices us to sin, and which arises from our fallen state, the malice of the Devil, and the pitfalls of the World.

-Ludovic de Besse, O.S.F.C.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

The School of Love & Other Essays, May 11

THE SCHOOL OF LOVE

[continued from yesterday]

...Secondly, by a loving nature I understand a nature of deep emotions. Not merely does it see and appreciate; it is affected by its appreciations, it suffers one way or another.

There are some natures that fall short of this; they can appreciate the beautiful, they can analyse it, they can describe it, in some sense they can be interested in it, but to be moved by it in any undue degree would seem to them a weakness.

Such natures may attain to much more, especially by way of intellect; but if emotion does not follow, their love is a crippled thing.

Love feels joy, love feels sorrow. When it joys, its joy may swell till it becomes an agony, and it is compelled to cry out: "No more, no more!"

When it sorrows, its sorrow may be worse than death, and yet it will cherish it with a sense of nature satisfied.

When it has neither joy nor sorrow, then, whatever else there may be, life is like an empty desert.

Thirdly, by a loving nature I understand a nature that can act. True love demands a certain courage, a certain daring, to act not merely by the dictate of reason, but also by the prompting of love.

True, it is liable to make mistakes; it may be convicted of much foolishness, of many excesses of generosity.

Love does not always caIculate, does not always consider pros and cons, is not always prudent as some philosophers understand that virtue, does not always look for success, but, once aroused, shuts its eyes, "gives and does not count the cost, fights and does not heed the wounds, toils and does not seek for rest, labours and looks for no reward," lays down its life and does not think about it.

Such a nature is dangerous? Yes; but it is dangerous to go into battle; it is dangerous to go out upon the mission field; it is dangerous to tend the diseased; it is of the essence of an great­ness to face what is dangerous.

"Greater love than this no man hath, that he lay down his life for his beloved," whoever or whatever that beloved may be.

Such is a loving nature, as it comes from the hand of God....

[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918

Monday, May 10, 2010

News Updates, 5/11

Pope blames church's own sins for sex scandal
LISBON, Portugal – Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday blamed the church's own sins for the clerical abuse scandal — not a campaign mounted by outsiders — and called for profound purification to end what he called the "greatest persecution" the church has endured....

Church Should Give 'More Consideration' to 'Quality' of Homosexual Relationships: Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna
The Church should "give more consideration" to "the quality" of homosexual relationships, the cardinal archbishop of Vienna said this weekend. Christoph Schönborn told the far-left British Catholic magazine the Tablet that the Church should also consider allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion since “many people don’t even marry at all any longer.” “We should give more consideration to the quality of homosexual relationships. A stable relationship is certainly better than if someone chooses to be promiscuous,” Schönborn said.
[What kind of "quality" can there be in perversion? Maybe the Cardinal should give more consideration to what scripture says about homosexuality?]

'Pope' Pelosi plans sermons for Church - Now she wants to tell priests what to preach
“I want you to instruct your, whatever the communication is -- the people, some of them, oppose immigration reform are sitting in those pews and you have to tell them that this is a ‘manifestation of our living the gospels.’ Our patron saint of San Francisco, St. Francis of Assisi, he said, ‘Preach the gospel - sometimes use words.’ We need the words to be said because it isn’t being picked up automatically,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at the Catholic Community Conference.
[This woman needs to be excommunicated]

Apostolic visitor says Pope may meet with victims of Fr. Maciel
Bishop Ricardo Watty of Tepic, one of the five bishops appointed to the Apostolic Visitation of the Legion of Christ, said in a recent interview that Pope Benedict XVI may meet with some of the victims abused by Father Marcial Maciel....

With Obamacare Cash Comes New Abortion Supercenter for Planned Parenthood
ST. PAUL, Minnesota -- Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) has announced that they are constructing a new clinic and administrative headquarters in St. Paul. According to Sarah Stoesz, President of PPMNS, Planned Parenthood is anticipating a possibly increased demand for its services because of the new federal health care bill. Stoesz said that she was unsure "exactly what health care reform will mean for our patients." She continued, however: "But I anticipate that more people will access health [death] care...

Marquette rescinds dean offer to lesbian prof
Jesuit university 'Catholic identity' represented

Pope begins four-day journey to Portugal
Central part of trip will focus on Fatima

'Faithful and holy priests don't abuse people'
A conversation with Catholic commentator George Weigel

Catholic issue exaggerated in 1960 primary?
Many expected 'bloodbath' if JFK won the White House

Filipino bishop: Exposition in every parish
Catholics fear elections will be undermined

Why has Canadian bishop 'vanished'?
No one knows where he's been since his resignation

Catholic priest dies saving youths from drowning
Cleric had massive heart attack after valiant rescue

Thousands believe priest heals the sick
'...instantaneously, miraculously in front of my eyes'

Accused Catholic priests left in legal limbo
'This is what happens to an innocent priest?'

==== Other ====

The Pill ruined the institution of marriage, says Raquel Welch
Raquel Welch has blamed the Pill for the decline of the institution of marriage. The Hollywood actress said the widespread use of oral contraceptives had led to a breakdown in sexual morality and fuelled the growth of rampant promiscuity among the young. Miss Welch, 69, said the situation has grown so grave that 'these days nobody seems able to keep it in their pants or honour a commitment.' While she argued that it carried some benefits, she said the enduring legacy of the Pill has been social anarchy....
[Precisely as Pope Paul VI predicted in Humanae Vitae!]

Memo Misread: Elena Kagan Did Not Tell Clinton to Back Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Washington, DC -- To hear mainstream media outlets like the Associated Press and Washington Post tell the story, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan once urged President Bill Clinton to back a ban on partial-birth or late-term abortions. The take from the stories is that Kagan's rock solid pro-abortion views aren't that strong. Nothing could be further from the truth....

Church of England moves towards ordaining women
Over the weekend, the Church of England introduced draft legislation putting the country's Anglican communion on the fast track to allowing women's ordination. On Saturday, May 8, the Church of England's revision committee published a 142-page review in favor of draft proposals that support women being consecrated as bishops and priests. According to Reuters, the church's revision committee also proposed safeguards for more traditional parishes who have expressed opposition to ordaining women, including the right to request that a male bishop perform blessings and ordinations. However, the committee proposals did not meet the requests by these parishes for new dioceses or a special class of bishops.

Santelli: Tea Parties Don't Realize US Bailing Out Greece
The European Union and the International Monetary Fund to the rescue! The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) soars and investors breathe a sign of relief. But where’s this $1 trillion in bailout funds for Greece coming from? On CNBC’s May 10 “Squawk Box,” host Joe Kernen channeled Rick Santelli’s anti-bailout populism, suggesting it was important to note that this bailout was made possible in part by the American taxpayer...

Germany: "We are Europe's fools again."
The mass-circulation Bild daily complained in a front-page headline: "We are Europe's fools again." "Angela Merkel, the Iron Chancellor, has rolled over and we are being taken to the cleaners," it complained in an editorial. The conservative daily Die Welt said the fundamental problem was the other euro zone countries did not share Germany's financial stability culture....

Fully Transparent Federal Reserve Comedy: Congratulations America! You Own Bankrupt Red Roof Inns
YouTube Video: Alan Grayson explores Maiden Lane assets -- May 6, 2010
Gospel for Tuesday, 6th Week of EasterFrom: John 16:5-11

The Action of the Holy Spirit (Continuation)
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [5] "But now I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, `Where are You going?' [6] But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. [7] Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. [8] And when He comes, He will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment: [9] of sin, because they do not believe in Me; [10] of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no more; [11] of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."
___________________________

Commentary:
6-7. The thought that He is going to leave them saddens the Apostles, and our Lord consoles them with the promise of the Paraclete, the Consoler. Later (verses 20ff), He assures them that their sadness will turn into joy which no one can take away from them.

Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit three times during the discourse of the Last Supper. The first time (14:15ff), He says that another Paraclete (advocate, consoler) will come, sent by the Father, to be with them forever; secondly, He says (14:26) that He Himself will send them, on behalf of the Father, the Spirit of truth who will teach them everything; and now He unfolds for them the complete plan of salvation and announces that the Holy Spirit will be sent once He ascends into Heaven.

8-12. The word "world" here means all those who have not believed in Christ and have rejected Him. These the Holy Spirit will accuse of sin because of their unbelief. He will accuse them of unrighteousness because He will show that Jesus was the Just One who was never guilty of sin (cf. John 8:46; Hebrews 4:15) and therefore is in glory beside His Father. And, finally, He will indict them by demonstrating that the devil, the prince of the world, has been overthrown through the death of Christ, which rescues man from the power of the Evil One and gives him grace to avoid the snares he lays.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

Principles and Practices - May 11

Liberty

When God becomes my one thing needful, He also becomes my one sole Lord.

I know that when I become anyone's slave to obey him, I am the slave of him whom I obey, whether it be of sin, unto death, or of obedience, unto justice.

Now I am made free from sin, and am become the slave of God only.

What do creatures matter to me?

What do happiness or sorrow matter, peace or suffering, abundance or want, honour or contempt, health or sickness, life or death?

What do they matter?

None of these things are my necessary end, I am free from them all, above them all.

-Very Rev. J. Tissot.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

The School of Love & Other Essays, May 10

THE SCHOOL OF LOVE

[continued from yesterday]

...Let us, then, watch love in action; above all, let us watch it as it beats against the bars of its prison within our own hearts.

For it is there most of all, perhaps there only, that we can read it securely for ourselves, and according to the measure of our own capacity, without any fear of being misled, without any danger of getting out of our depth. "The kingdom of God," said our Lord, "is within you;" and the kingdom of God is nothing if not the kingdom of Love.

What, then, do I understand by a loving nature, the good ground on which the seed of love is likely to bear most abundant fruit?

I understand, first of all, a nature that is easily led to think little of itself.

It is a nature which, as it were, is easily distracted from it­self by appreciation and admiration of that which it finds around it and in others.

Out­side itself it is for ever discovering matter of interest, something worth attention. so that to itself it forgets to give much thought.

Such a trait is common in children, and we love them for it. To them, until they are spoilt, all the world is new and wonderful; them­selves they have not yet discovered.

We see it in great poets and great artists. Love of that which inspires them is their life; it makes them unlike other men, act unlike other men, and the common human nature that is in us all makes us claim for them forgiveness for much excess because we know they have loved much.

[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918

News Updates, 5/10

Attempt to Legally Qualify Catholic Church as Criminal Organisation [Austria]
Vienna-based lawyer Georg Zanger wants to sue leading members of the Catholic Church on grounds of membership in a criminal organisation (§ 278a StGB, Austrian Code of Penal Law). Most regrettably, several members of the Catholic Church abused children in previous decades. 15 victims have now asked Vienna-based lawyer Georg Zanger to represent them legally....

Cardinal accuses Vatican official of abuse cover-up
Vienna's Schonborn points finger at Angelo Sodano

Traditional Latin Mass to be Restored to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima
The Canons Regular of St. John Cantius (Archdiocese of Chicago) are leading a pilgrimage in September, 2010, to Fatima, Portugal, to help achieve the restoration of the Traditional Latin Mass to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima. Included in this pilgrimage to the Fatima apparition sites, will be a liturgical conference in Fatima, providing clergy and laity lectures on the history, spirituality, and mystical theology of the Classical Roman Rite. On September 10, the Canons will celebrate a Solemn High Latin Mass (1962 Missale Romanum) at the High Altar of Fatima's Basilica. This will be the first time in some 45 years since the High Altar has been used to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass.

Sister Carol Keehan Misrepresents Her Support of the Health Care Bill
Sister Carol Keehan responded to the standing ovation she received at a gathering of Obama’s Catholic coalition by making a very strange claim about her support of the recent health care legislation signed by President Obama. "We were in complete accord with our bishops and our church that abortion is a grave evil. There is no justification for abortion, and we would not ever have supported this bill if we thought it funded abortion."...
[An outright LIE! Should one expect anything else from a fellow traveler and culture of death supporter?]

Seniors Not Allowed to Pray Before Meals at Nursing Home
This is unbelievable… Now they won’t allow our seniors to pray before meals. When did America become a communist regime? Senior citizens are no longer allowed to pray before meals at the Port Wentworth’s Ed Young Senior Citizens Center near Savannah, Georgia. Local officials say the meals are now provided with federal money and therefore the seniors are not allowed to pray before meals...

1200 churches in Netherlands expected to close
Some will be 'repurposed,' others will be torn down

US Church sent predator priest to African village
'He's never denied responsibility for his sexual behavior'

China ordains bishops backed by Vatican
Signalling that long-strained relations on the mend?

German bishop resigns over allegations
Mixa asked forgiveness of those he has 'saddened'

Are some teachers turning Catholic to get jobs?
Toronto educators are so desperate to find work

Church of England paves way for women bishops
Setting up a possible showdown with traditionalists

Pope appoints a new top church leader in Poland
Papal nuncio named Archbishop of Gniezno

Obama Nominates [?Lesbian, Anti-Life?] Elena Kagan to Supreme Court
Live from the East Room at the White House! Barack Obama announces his nomination of Solictor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court...

Solicitor General Elena Kagan has called for Socialists to unite
"We are living in the days of the Apocalypse - the last days of our era...The two great forces of the Mystical Body of Christ and the Mystical Body of Antichrist are beginning to draw up the battle lines for the catastrophic contest." - Archbishop Fulton John Sheen.

White House aides expect President Obama to select Solicitor General Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court. See here. Ms. Kagan, while attending Princeton University as an undergraduate, entitled her senior thesis "To the Final Conflict: Socialism in New York City, 1900-1933." In her thesis, Ms. Kagan wrote, "In our times [this was 30 years ago], a coherent socialist movement is nowhere to be found in the United States. Americans are more likely to speak of a golden past than of a golden future, of Capitalism's glories than of socialism's greatness. Conformity overrides dissent; the desire to conserve has overwhelmed the urge to alter. Such a state of affairs cries out for explanation. Why, in a society by no means perfect, has a radical party never attained the status of a major political force? Why, in particular, did the socialist movement never become an alternative to the nation's established parties?" (p. 127)...

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Gospel for Monday, 6th Week of Easter

From: John 15:26-16:4a

A Hostile World (Continuation)
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [26] "But when the Counsellor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness to Me; [27] and you also are witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

The Action of the Holy Spirit
[1] "I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. [2] They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. [3] And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor Me. [4a] But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them."
________________________

Commentary:
26-27. Just before the Ascension our Lord will again charge the Apostles with the mission to bear witness to Him (cf. Acts 1:8). They have been witnesses to the public ministry, death and resurrection of Christ, which is a condition for elonging to the Apostolic College, as we see when Matthias is elected to take the place of Judas (cf. Acts 1:21-22). But the public preaching of the Twelve and the life of the Church will not start until the Holy Spirit comes.

Every Christian should be living witness to Jesus, and the Church as a whole is a permanent testimony to Him: "The mission of the Church is carried out by means of that activity through which, in obedience to Christ's command and moved by the grace and love of the Holy Spirit, the Church makes itself fully present to all men and peoples in order to lead them to the faith, freedom and peace of Christ by the example of its life and preaching, by the sacraments and other means of grace" (Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 5).

2-3. Fanaticism can even bring a person to think that it is permissible to commit a crime in order to serve the cause of religion--as happened with those Jews who persecuted Jesus to the point of bringing about His death, and who later persecuted the Church. Paul of Tarsus was a typical example of misguided zeal (cf. Acts 22:3-16); but once Paul realized he was wrong he changed and became one of Christ's most fervent apostles. As Jesus predicted, the Church has often experienced this sort of fanatical, diabolical hatred. At other times this false zeal, though not so obvious, takes the form of systematic and unjust opposition to the things of God. "In the moments of struggle and opposition, when perhaps `the good' fill your way with obstacles, lift up your apostolic heart: listen to Jesus as He speaks of the grain of mustard seed and of the leaven. And say to Him: `edissere nobis parabolam': explain the parable to me.'

"And you will feel the joy of contemplating the victory to come: the birds of the air lodging in the branches of your apostolate, now only in its beginnings, and the whole of the meal leavened" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 695).

In these cases, as our Lord also pointed out, those who persecute God's true servants think they are serving Him: they confuse God's interest with a deformed idea of religion.

4. Here Jesus prophesies not only His own death (cf. Matthew 16:21-23) but also the persecution His disciples will suffer. He forewarns them of the contradictions they will experience so that they will not be scandalized or depressed when they do arise; in fact, difficulties will give them an opportunity to demonstrate their faith.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

Principles and Practices - May 10

The Best Choice

Jesus Christ says last of all:
Blessed are the humble and those who suffer persecution for justice, who are calumniated for My sake, who live and die in obscurity, victims of the holy love of God.
The glory of the Saints will be their recompense and their lot. The world, however, next to gold and silver, next to sensual pleasures, esteems only glory and honours, tyranny and inde­pendence.

It considers unhappy those who lead a hidden life without any renown, spent in the un­known service of charity and the care of the poor, the sick and the unfortunates of this world.

-Msgr. Albert Farges.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930

The School of Love & Other Essays, May 9

THE SCHOOL OF LOVE

[continued from yesterday]

...Love, then, almost laughs at definition. It is too vivid, too burning a thing to be defined; if it could be adequately defined - no doubt it can - it would still have no meaning for us, it would almost appear contemptible, unless we ourselves had known it by our own ex­perience.

A man understands what love is, and has love in him, in so far as he has himself actually loved, and does love, and no further.

Philosophy will not teach him the real thing; poetry will not help him much; when he has felt it, and has been stirred by it, and has longed, at least, and striven, to be something and to do something because of it, then, and to that extent, he will know it.

He will know, too, that he has not reached its end; that there are other depths of love to which he has not yet attained. He may reach to them some day; meanwhile it is something to have discovered what he knows.

Hence, for the understanding of love, it is more important to describe than to define it; to see it in its effects rather than on paper; to watch it in its growth and making, that so, if we really wish for it ourselves, we may follow the path that leads towards it.

And the key to it is given to us in the very simple words of one who certainly knew.

"Love," says a certain great master of the science, "is seen in deeds rather than in words." That is the key to the whole matter: the deeds that love will make us do...

[Continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918