The Reason Why
In the garden of the Church there are more trees than one might think that are reluctant to be pruned, and will not allow themselves to be fashioned as they should - who will not submit, or submit but imperfectly, to the necessary cultivation.
And this is because it costs us something to control our actions, to admit the strength of our passions, the baseness of our desires, the number of our faults.
We are afraid of receiving certain advice which will perhaps upset our projected plans, necessitate fatiguing exertions, or call for incessant vigilance or some painful acts of self-denial. It is hard also to be thwarted in our tastes and to be perpetually urged to live in a state of oblivion and humility.
-Saudreau.
_________________
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
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The School of Love, February 16
PRAYER
[continued from yesterday]
...These are three common experiences, which are perhaps the tale of the prayer of many, and from which very few indeed escape. But fortunately they have their remedy written right across them; we have but to acknowledge them, to discover the right relation that exists between prayer and mortification, that to some extent at least the one is the price of the other, and how far and in what coin that price must be paid.
For in the first place if excessive preoccupation is a hindrance to prayer, then we must train ourselves, especially before the time of prayer, to resist this preoccupation. This does not, or at least need not, mean that we must do less work than before, or that we must be less interested in it, or that we must pay less attention to it than to ourselves, the example of all the saints of prayer, witness St. Francis Xavier, St. Teresa, St. Vincent de Paul, is evidence in abundance that prayer never hinders work.
But it does mean that no matter how much, or how engrossing, or how urgent the work may be, it must never be allowed to master us. We must never let ourselves become the slaves of our surroundings or our circumstances. We must educate the mind by severe discipline, if necessary say to everything that threatens to engross and overwhelm us: "Thus far and no further."
It must learn to shut the door to interference, to preserve its command of its own castle; this is the active side of the virtue known as peace of mind, and such discipline, such mortification, will teach us to command our thoughts and affections in time of prayer....
[to be continued]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
[continued from yesterday]
...These are three common experiences, which are perhaps the tale of the prayer of many, and from which very few indeed escape. But fortunately they have their remedy written right across them; we have but to acknowledge them, to discover the right relation that exists between prayer and mortification, that to some extent at least the one is the price of the other, and how far and in what coin that price must be paid.
For in the first place if excessive preoccupation is a hindrance to prayer, then we must train ourselves, especially before the time of prayer, to resist this preoccupation. This does not, or at least need not, mean that we must do less work than before, or that we must be less interested in it, or that we must pay less attention to it than to ourselves, the example of all the saints of prayer, witness St. Francis Xavier, St. Teresa, St. Vincent de Paul, is evidence in abundance that prayer never hinders work.
But it does mean that no matter how much, or how engrossing, or how urgent the work may be, it must never be allowed to master us. We must never let ourselves become the slaves of our surroundings or our circumstances. We must educate the mind by severe discipline, if necessary say to everything that threatens to engross and overwhelm us: "Thus far and no further."
It must learn to shut the door to interference, to preserve its command of its own castle; this is the active side of the virtue known as peace of mind, and such discipline, such mortification, will teach us to command our thoughts and affections in time of prayer....
[to be continued]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
The Baby Gianna Story Part 1
Part I: Answering the CallVery moving - be sure to continue to "Part 2"
Jessica Chominski fights for the lives of others. Little lives. The ones many don’t think are worth fighting for. She is the sole full time employee of the Bucks County Community Women’s Center, a crisis pregnancy center in Pennsylvania....
Last June Jessica's phone rang. It was the call that would change her life. Jessica had no idea how her struggle for one baby would change her forever. And in the end, that one little baby may change many more lives than hers. All Jessica knew was that every time the phone rang a life might depend on her. She simply answered the call.
“Do you guys help out with abortion?” a woman nervously asked.
Jessica informed the woman that they didn’t perform abortions at the center. She offered to discuss options. “We can provide information,” she said. “Would you like to come by?”
Silence....
Read more here.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Gospel for Tuesday, 6th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Mark 8:14-21
The Leaven of the Pharisees (Continuation)
[14] Now they had forgotten to bring bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. [15] And He (Jesus) cautioned them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." [16] And they discussed it with one another, saying, "We have no bread." [17] And being aware of it, Jesus said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? [18] Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? [19] When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to Him, "Twelve." [20] And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to Him, "Seven." [21] And He said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"
________________________
Commentary:
15-16. In another Gospel passage--Luke 13:20-21 and Matthew 31:33--Jesus uses the simile of the leaven to show the vitality of His teaching. Here "leaven" is used in the sense of bad disposition. In the making of bread, leaven is what causes the dough to rise; the Pharisees' hypocrisy and Herod's dissolute life, stemming from their personal ambition, were the "leaven" which was poisoning from within the "dough" of Israel and which would eventually corrupt it. Jesus seeks to warn His disciples about these dangers, and to have them understand that if they are to take in His doctrine they need a pure and simple heart.
But the disciples fail to understand: "They weren't educated; they weren't very bright, if we judge from their reaction to supernatural things. Finding even the most elementary examples and comparisons beyond their reach, they would turn to the Master and ask: `Explain the parable to us.' When Jesus uses the image of the `leaven' of the Pharisees, they think that He's reproaching them for not having purchased bread....These were the disciples called by our Lord. Such stuff is what Christ chose. And they remain just like that until they are filled with the Holy Spirit and thus become pillars of the Church. They are ordinary people, full of defects and shortcomings, more eager to say than to do. Nevertheless, Jesus calls them to be fishers of men, co-redeemers, dispensers of the grace of God" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 2). The same thing can happen to us. Although we may not be very gifted, the Lord calls us, and love of God and docility to His words will cause to grow in our souls unsuspected fruit of holiness and supernatural effectiveness.
___________________________
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.
The Leaven of the Pharisees (Continuation)
[14] Now they had forgotten to bring bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. [15] And He (Jesus) cautioned them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." [16] And they discussed it with one another, saying, "We have no bread." [17] And being aware of it, Jesus said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? [18] Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? [19] When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to Him, "Twelve." [20] And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to Him, "Seven." [21] And He said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"
________________________
Commentary:
15-16. In another Gospel passage--Luke 13:20-21 and Matthew 31:33--Jesus uses the simile of the leaven to show the vitality of His teaching. Here "leaven" is used in the sense of bad disposition. In the making of bread, leaven is what causes the dough to rise; the Pharisees' hypocrisy and Herod's dissolute life, stemming from their personal ambition, were the "leaven" which was poisoning from within the "dough" of Israel and which would eventually corrupt it. Jesus seeks to warn His disciples about these dangers, and to have them understand that if they are to take in His doctrine they need a pure and simple heart.
But the disciples fail to understand: "They weren't educated; they weren't very bright, if we judge from their reaction to supernatural things. Finding even the most elementary examples and comparisons beyond their reach, they would turn to the Master and ask: `Explain the parable to us.' When Jesus uses the image of the `leaven' of the Pharisees, they think that He's reproaching them for not having purchased bread....These were the disciples called by our Lord. Such stuff is what Christ chose. And they remain just like that until they are filled with the Holy Spirit and thus become pillars of the Church. They are ordinary people, full of defects and shortcomings, more eager to say than to do. Nevertheless, Jesus calls them to be fishers of men, co-redeemers, dispensers of the grace of God" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 2). The same thing can happen to us. Although we may not be very gifted, the Lord calls us, and love of God and docility to His words will cause to grow in our souls unsuspected fruit of holiness and supernatural effectiveness.
___________________________
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 - February 16
Remove The Obstacles
If our minds, instead of being taken up with so many useless matters, were occupied with divine things, how many beauties we should discover in the hidden depth of our soul! How supremely delightful would the spiritual life appear to us. How full of fragrance should we find the virtues, words, and actions of our Good Master and Saviour.
-St. Jane Frances de Chantal.
_________________
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
If our minds, instead of being taken up with so many useless matters, were occupied with divine things, how many beauties we should discover in the hidden depth of our soul! How supremely delightful would the spiritual life appear to us. How full of fragrance should we find the virtues, words, and actions of our Good Master and Saviour.
-St. Jane Frances de Chantal.
_________________
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, February 15
PRAYER
[continued from yesterday]
...Or, secondly, we find we have taken up a restful position of body. We are rather more than usually tired - how many mornings are we not able to say this! We are afraid of straining ourselves by a long vigil, we recall the warning of St. Teresa that no one can pray whose body is in torture.
Besides we have so often found, or at least we tell ourselves that we have often found, that a restful attitude conduces to prayer. But as a matter of fact, whatever may be the prayer of the first half-minute, the restful attitude has led to an absolute blank; it has either soothed us into slumber or else has let our minds go wandering away to the moon.
The end comes, and we find ourselves, in body, and mind, and soul, exactly where we were when we sat down or reclined. Of how many morning meditations is this the history?
There is yet a third experience. It often happens that much as we desire and relish the thought of spiritual things at other times, in time of prayer this desire and this relish seem tttterly to vanish.
There succeeds nothing but weariness and languor; mean and shameful thoughts come careering through our brain which at other times are wholly absent; and we have scarcely begun our prayer, but we long with an almost irresistible longing for the end.
Any distraction becomes welcome, any excuse for limiting the time allotted is acceptable; instead of being the desire of our hearts, the time of prayer becomes the time of almost intolerable torture...
[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
[continued from yesterday]
...Or, secondly, we find we have taken up a restful position of body. We are rather more than usually tired - how many mornings are we not able to say this! We are afraid of straining ourselves by a long vigil, we recall the warning of St. Teresa that no one can pray whose body is in torture.
Besides we have so often found, or at least we tell ourselves that we have often found, that a restful attitude conduces to prayer. But as a matter of fact, whatever may be the prayer of the first half-minute, the restful attitude has led to an absolute blank; it has either soothed us into slumber or else has let our minds go wandering away to the moon.
The end comes, and we find ourselves, in body, and mind, and soul, exactly where we were when we sat down or reclined. Of how many morning meditations is this the history?
There is yet a third experience. It often happens that much as we desire and relish the thought of spiritual things at other times, in time of prayer this desire and this relish seem tttterly to vanish.
There succeeds nothing but weariness and languor; mean and shameful thoughts come careering through our brain which at other times are wholly absent; and we have scarcely begun our prayer, but we long with an almost irresistible longing for the end.
Any distraction becomes welcome, any excuse for limiting the time allotted is acceptable; instead of being the desire of our hearts, the time of prayer becomes the time of almost intolerable torture...
[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Gospel for Monday, 6th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Mark 8:11-13
The Leaven of the Pharisees
[11] The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him (Jesus), seeking from Him a sign from Heaven, to test Him. [12] And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation." [13] And He left them, and getting into the boat again He departed to the other side.
______________________
Commentary:
11-12. Jesus expresses the deep sadness He feels at the hardheartedness of the Pharisees: they remain blind and unbelieving despite the light shining around them and the wonderful things Christ is doing. If someone rejects the miracles God has offered him, it is useless for him to demand new signs, because he asks for them not because he is sincerely seeking the truth but out of ill will: he is trying to tempt God (cf. Luke 16:27-31). Requiring new miracles before one will believe, not accepting those already performed in the history of salvation, amounts to asking God to account for Himself before a human tribunal (cf. Romans 2:1-11). Unfortunately, many people do act like this. But God can only be found if we have an open and humble attitude to Him. "I have no need of miracles: there are more than enough for me in the Gospel. But I do need to see you fulfilling your duty and responding to grace" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 362).
12. The generation to which Jesus refers does not include all the people of His time, but only the Pharisees and their followers (cf. Mark 8:38; 9:19; Matthew 11:16), who do not want to see in Jesus' miracles the sign and guarantee of His messianic mission and dignity: they even attribute His miracles to Satan (Matthew 12:28).
If they do not accept the signs offered to them, they will be given no other sign of the spectacular kind they seek, for the Kingdom of God does not come noisily (Luke 17:20-21) and even if it did they in their twisted way would manage to misinterpret the event (Luke 16:31). According to Matthew 12:38-42 and Luke 11:29-32, they are offered yet another sign--the miracle of Jonah, the sign of the death and resurrection of Christ; but not even this remarkable proof will lead the Pharisees to shed their pride.
___________________________
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.
The Leaven of the Pharisees
[11] The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him (Jesus), seeking from Him a sign from Heaven, to test Him. [12] And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation." [13] And He left them, and getting into the boat again He departed to the other side.
______________________
Commentary:
11-12. Jesus expresses the deep sadness He feels at the hardheartedness of the Pharisees: they remain blind and unbelieving despite the light shining around them and the wonderful things Christ is doing. If someone rejects the miracles God has offered him, it is useless for him to demand new signs, because he asks for them not because he is sincerely seeking the truth but out of ill will: he is trying to tempt God (cf. Luke 16:27-31). Requiring new miracles before one will believe, not accepting those already performed in the history of salvation, amounts to asking God to account for Himself before a human tribunal (cf. Romans 2:1-11). Unfortunately, many people do act like this. But God can only be found if we have an open and humble attitude to Him. "I have no need of miracles: there are more than enough for me in the Gospel. But I do need to see you fulfilling your duty and responding to grace" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 362).
12. The generation to which Jesus refers does not include all the people of His time, but only the Pharisees and their followers (cf. Mark 8:38; 9:19; Matthew 11:16), who do not want to see in Jesus' miracles the sign and guarantee of His messianic mission and dignity: they even attribute His miracles to Satan (Matthew 12:28).
If they do not accept the signs offered to them, they will be given no other sign of the spectacular kind they seek, for the Kingdom of God does not come noisily (Luke 17:20-21) and even if it did they in their twisted way would manage to misinterpret the event (Luke 16:31). According to Matthew 12:38-42 and Luke 11:29-32, they are offered yet another sign--the miracle of Jonah, the sign of the death and resurrection of Christ; but not even this remarkable proof will lead the Pharisees to shed their pride.
___________________________
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 - February 15
The Great Cure
Work and prayer are the infallible aids to self-education: pray and work, that is the golden precept that must be used as a warcry against all evil spirits. Work strengthens body and soul and keeps them youthful. But it must be regulated and directed to God by prayer; it must not fetter the immortal soul with the chains of slavery, but must be offered to God as a free sacrifice, that will find its reward not here below, but in heaven and in all eternity.
-Von Oer Bothmer.
_________________
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
Work and prayer are the infallible aids to self-education: pray and work, that is the golden precept that must be used as a warcry against all evil spirits. Work strengthens body and soul and keeps them youthful. But it must be regulated and directed to God by prayer; it must not fetter the immortal soul with the chains of slavery, but must be offered to God as a free sacrifice, that will find its reward not here below, but in heaven and in all eternity.
-Von Oer Bothmer.
_________________
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, February 14
PRAYER
[Continued from yesterday]
...Prayer is a delicate flower needing to be guarded and tended; if we would have it in full bloom we must look well to it, both in its growth and in its hey-day, and in all its surroundings. What, then, are some at least of the precautions we should take?
They are best learnt by each one from his own personal experience; there is no other road to prayer; not what we have read in books, or what we have heard from others, but exactly as much as we have learnt from ourselves and no more.
Here at least may be suggested a few preliminary warnings. When we examine our prayer or our failure in it, the first thing we usually have to say is that our minds have been far afield.
We began well enough - or we did not, which is much more common than we are always willing to allow - but almost immediately we were lost. People we know wandered through our brain, above all two classes; those we like best and those we like least.
With the former we built our castles in the clouds; the latter we pelted with torrents of abuse, and saw ourselves in imagination triumphantly stamping on their prostrate forms; or events of the past, or imaginary events of the future, turned themselves over and over, distorted themselves, mixed themselves up, and usually left us either humbled at our proneness to evil, or grumbling at somebody's imagined injustice towards us. Let us humbly confess it; this or such as this is often the sum total of our morning meditation....
[continued]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
[Continued from yesterday]
...Prayer is a delicate flower needing to be guarded and tended; if we would have it in full bloom we must look well to it, both in its growth and in its hey-day, and in all its surroundings. What, then, are some at least of the precautions we should take?
They are best learnt by each one from his own personal experience; there is no other road to prayer; not what we have read in books, or what we have heard from others, but exactly as much as we have learnt from ourselves and no more.
Here at least may be suggested a few preliminary warnings. When we examine our prayer or our failure in it, the first thing we usually have to say is that our minds have been far afield.
We began well enough - or we did not, which is much more common than we are always willing to allow - but almost immediately we were lost. People we know wandered through our brain, above all two classes; those we like best and those we like least.
With the former we built our castles in the clouds; the latter we pelted with torrents of abuse, and saw ourselves in imagination triumphantly stamping on their prostrate forms; or events of the past, or imaginary events of the future, turned themselves over and over, distorted themselves, mixed themselves up, and usually left us either humbled at our proneness to evil, or grumbling at somebody's imagined injustice towards us. Let us humbly confess it; this or such as this is often the sum total of our morning meditation....
[continued]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Gospel for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
From: Luke 6:17, 20-26
The Sermon on the Mount
[17] And He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; [18] and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. [19] And all the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came forth from Him and healed them all.
The Beatitudes and the Curses
[20] And He (Jesus) lifted up His eyes on His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. [21] Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. [22] Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! [23] Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in Heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. [24] But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. [25] Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. [26] Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets."
________________________
Commentary:
20-49. These thirty verses of St. Luke correspond to some extent to the Sermon on the Mount, an extensive account of which St. Matthew gives us in Chapters 5 to 7 in his Gospel. It is very likely that in the course of His public ministry in different regions and towns of Israel Jesus preached the same things, using different words on different occasions. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit each evangelist would have chosen to report those things which he considered most useful for the instruction of his immediate readers--Christians of Jewish origin in the case of Matthew, Gentile converts in the case of Luke. There is no reason why one evangelist should not have selected certain items and another different ones, depending on his readership, or why one should not have laid special stress on some subjects and shortened or omitted accounts of others.
In this present discourse, we might distinguish three parts--the Beatitudes and the curses (6:20-26); love of one's enemies (6:27-38); and teaching on uprightness of heart (6:39-49).
Some Christians may find it difficult to grasp the need of practising the moral teaching of the Gospel so radically, in particular Christ's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is very demanding in what He says, but He is saying it to everyone, and not just to His Apostles or to those disciples who followed Him closely. We are told expressly that "when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching" (Matthew 7:28). It is quite clear that the Master calls everyone to holiness, making no distinction of state-in-life, race or personal circumstances.
This teaching on the universal call to holiness qas a central point of the teaching of (St) Monsignor Escriva de Bala- guer. The Second Vatican Council expressed the same teaching with the full weight of its authority: everyone is called to Christian holiness; consider, for example, just one reference it makes, in "Lumen Gentium", 11: "Strengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or state--though each in his or her own way--are called by the Lord to that perfection of sanctity by which the Father Himself is perfect."
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is not proposing an unattainable ideal, useful though that might be to make us feel humble in the light of our inability to reach it. No. Christian teaching in this regard is quite clear: what Christ commands, He commands in order to have us do what He says. Along with His commandment comes grace to enable us to fulfill it. Therefore, every Christian is capable of practising the moral teaching of Christ and of attaining the full height of his calling--holiness--not by his own efforts alone but by means of the grace which Christ has won for us, and with the abiding help of the means of sanctification which He left to His Church. "If anyone plead human weakness to excuse Himself for not loving God, it should be explained that He who demands our love pours into our hearts by the Holy Spirit the fervor of His love, and this good Spirit our Heavenly Father gives to those that ask Him. With reason, therefore, did St. Augustine pray: `Give Me what Thou command, and command what You please.' As, then, God is ever ready to help us, especially since the death of Christ our Lord, by which the prince of this world was cast out, there is no reason why anyone should be disheartened by the difficulty of the undertaking. To him who loves, nothing is difficult" ("St. Pius V Catechism", III, 1, 7).
20-26. The eight Beatitudes which St. Matthew gives (5:3-12) are summed up in four by St. Luke, but with four opposite curses. We can say, with St. Ambrose, that Matthew's eight are included in Luke's four (cf. "Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc."). In St. Luke they are in some cases stated in a more incisive, more direct form than in the First Gospel, where they are given with more explanation: for example, the first beatitude says simply "Blessed are you poor", whereas in Matthew we read, "Blessed are the poor in spirit", which contains a brief explanation of the virtue of poverty.
20. "The ordinary Christian has to reconcile two aspects of this life that can at first seem contradictory. There is on the one hand "true poverty", which is obvious and tangible and made up of definite things. This poverty should be an expression of faith in God and a sign that the heart is not satisfied with created things and aspires to the Creator; that it wants to be filled with love of God so as to be able to give this same love to everyone. On the other hand, an ordinary Christian is and wants to be "one more among his fellow men", sharing their way of life, their joys and happiness; working with them, loving the world and all the good things that exist in it; using all created things to solve the problems of human life and to establish a spiritual and material environment which will foster personal and social development [...].
"To my way of thinking the best examples of poverty are those mothers and fathers of large and poor families who spend their lives for their children and who with their effort and constancy--often without complaining of their needs -- bring up their family, creating a cheerful home in which everyone learns to love, to serve and to work" ([St] J. Escriva, "Conversations", 110f).
24-26. Our Lord here condemns four things: avarice and attachment to the things of the world; excessive care of the body, gluttony; empty-headed joy and general self-indulgence; flattery, and disordered desire for human glory -- four very common vices which a Christian needs to be on guard against.
24. In the same kind of way as in verse 20, which refers to the poor in the sense of those who love poverty, seeking to please God better, so in this verse the "rich" are to be understood as those who strive to accumulate possessions heedless of whether or not they are doing so lawfully, and who seek their happiness in those possessions, as if they were their ultimate goal. But people who inherit wealth or acquire itthrough honest work can be really poor provided they are detached from these things and are led by that detachment to use them to help others, as God inspires them. We can find in Sacred Scriptures a number of people to whom the beatitude of the poor can be applied although they possessed considerable wealth--Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David, Job, for example.
As early as St. Augustine's time there were people who failed to understand poverty and riches properly: they reasoned as follows: The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the poor, the Lazaruses of this world, the hungry; all the rich are bad, like this rich man here. This sort of thinking led St. Augustine to explain the deep meaning of wealth and poverty according to the spirit of the Gospel: "Listen, poor man, to my comments on your words. When you refer to yourself as Lazarus, that holy man covered with wounds, I am afraid your pride makes you describe yourself incorrectly. Do not despise rich men who are merciful, who are humble: or, to put it briefly, do not despise poor rich men. Oh, poor man, be poor yourself; poor, that is, humble [...]. Listen to me, then. Be truly poor, be devout, be humble; if you glory in your ragged and ulcerous poverty, if you glory in likening yourself to that beggar lying outside the rich man's house, then you are only noticing his poverty, and nothing else. What should I notice you ask? Read the Scriptures and you will understand what I mean. Lazarus was poor, but he to whose bosom he was brought was rich. `It came to pass, it is written, that the poor man died and he was brought by the angels to Abraham's bosom.' To where? To Abraham's bosom, or let us say, to that mysterious place where Abraham was resting. Read [...] and remember that Abraham was a very wealthy man when he was on earth: he had abundance of money, a large family, flocks, land; yet that rich man was poor, because he was humble. `Abraham believed God and he was reckoned righteous.' [...] He was faithful, he did good, received the commandment to offer his son in sacrifice, and he did not refuse to offer what he had received to Him from whom he had received it. He was approved in God's sight and set before us as an example of faith" ("Sermon", 14).
To sum up: poverty does not consist in something purely external, in having or not having material goods, but in something that goes far deeper, affecting a person's heart and soul; it consists in having a humble attitude to God, in being devout, in having total faith. If a Christian has these virtues and also has an abundance of material possessions, he should be detached from his wealth and act charitably towards others and thus be pleasing to God. On the other hand, if someone is not well-off he is not justified in God's sight on that account, if he fails to strive to acquire those virtues in which true poverty consists.
___________________________
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.
The Sermon on the Mount
[17] And He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; [18] and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. [19] And all the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came forth from Him and healed them all.
The Beatitudes and the Curses
[20] And He (Jesus) lifted up His eyes on His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. [21] Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. [22] Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! [23] Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in Heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. [24] But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. [25] Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. [26] Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets."
________________________
Commentary:
20-49. These thirty verses of St. Luke correspond to some extent to the Sermon on the Mount, an extensive account of which St. Matthew gives us in Chapters 5 to 7 in his Gospel. It is very likely that in the course of His public ministry in different regions and towns of Israel Jesus preached the same things, using different words on different occasions. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit each evangelist would have chosen to report those things which he considered most useful for the instruction of his immediate readers--Christians of Jewish origin in the case of Matthew, Gentile converts in the case of Luke. There is no reason why one evangelist should not have selected certain items and another different ones, depending on his readership, or why one should not have laid special stress on some subjects and shortened or omitted accounts of others.
In this present discourse, we might distinguish three parts--the Beatitudes and the curses (6:20-26); love of one's enemies (6:27-38); and teaching on uprightness of heart (6:39-49).
Some Christians may find it difficult to grasp the need of practising the moral teaching of the Gospel so radically, in particular Christ's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is very demanding in what He says, but He is saying it to everyone, and not just to His Apostles or to those disciples who followed Him closely. We are told expressly that "when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching" (Matthew 7:28). It is quite clear that the Master calls everyone to holiness, making no distinction of state-in-life, race or personal circumstances.
This teaching on the universal call to holiness qas a central point of the teaching of (St) Monsignor Escriva de Bala- guer. The Second Vatican Council expressed the same teaching with the full weight of its authority: everyone is called to Christian holiness; consider, for example, just one reference it makes, in "Lumen Gentium", 11: "Strengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or state--though each in his or her own way--are called by the Lord to that perfection of sanctity by which the Father Himself is perfect."
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is not proposing an unattainable ideal, useful though that might be to make us feel humble in the light of our inability to reach it. No. Christian teaching in this regard is quite clear: what Christ commands, He commands in order to have us do what He says. Along with His commandment comes grace to enable us to fulfill it. Therefore, every Christian is capable of practising the moral teaching of Christ and of attaining the full height of his calling--holiness--not by his own efforts alone but by means of the grace which Christ has won for us, and with the abiding help of the means of sanctification which He left to His Church. "If anyone plead human weakness to excuse Himself for not loving God, it should be explained that He who demands our love pours into our hearts by the Holy Spirit the fervor of His love, and this good Spirit our Heavenly Father gives to those that ask Him. With reason, therefore, did St. Augustine pray: `Give Me what Thou command, and command what You please.' As, then, God is ever ready to help us, especially since the death of Christ our Lord, by which the prince of this world was cast out, there is no reason why anyone should be disheartened by the difficulty of the undertaking. To him who loves, nothing is difficult" ("St. Pius V Catechism", III, 1, 7).
20-26. The eight Beatitudes which St. Matthew gives (5:3-12) are summed up in four by St. Luke, but with four opposite curses. We can say, with St. Ambrose, that Matthew's eight are included in Luke's four (cf. "Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc."). In St. Luke they are in some cases stated in a more incisive, more direct form than in the First Gospel, where they are given with more explanation: for example, the first beatitude says simply "Blessed are you poor", whereas in Matthew we read, "Blessed are the poor in spirit", which contains a brief explanation of the virtue of poverty.
20. "The ordinary Christian has to reconcile two aspects of this life that can at first seem contradictory. There is on the one hand "true poverty", which is obvious and tangible and made up of definite things. This poverty should be an expression of faith in God and a sign that the heart is not satisfied with created things and aspires to the Creator; that it wants to be filled with love of God so as to be able to give this same love to everyone. On the other hand, an ordinary Christian is and wants to be "one more among his fellow men", sharing their way of life, their joys and happiness; working with them, loving the world and all the good things that exist in it; using all created things to solve the problems of human life and to establish a spiritual and material environment which will foster personal and social development [...].
"To my way of thinking the best examples of poverty are those mothers and fathers of large and poor families who spend their lives for their children and who with their effort and constancy--often without complaining of their needs -- bring up their family, creating a cheerful home in which everyone learns to love, to serve and to work" ([St] J. Escriva, "Conversations", 110f).
24-26. Our Lord here condemns four things: avarice and attachment to the things of the world; excessive care of the body, gluttony; empty-headed joy and general self-indulgence; flattery, and disordered desire for human glory -- four very common vices which a Christian needs to be on guard against.
24. In the same kind of way as in verse 20, which refers to the poor in the sense of those who love poverty, seeking to please God better, so in this verse the "rich" are to be understood as those who strive to accumulate possessions heedless of whether or not they are doing so lawfully, and who seek their happiness in those possessions, as if they were their ultimate goal. But people who inherit wealth or acquire itthrough honest work can be really poor provided they are detached from these things and are led by that detachment to use them to help others, as God inspires them. We can find in Sacred Scriptures a number of people to whom the beatitude of the poor can be applied although they possessed considerable wealth--Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David, Job, for example.
As early as St. Augustine's time there were people who failed to understand poverty and riches properly: they reasoned as follows: The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the poor, the Lazaruses of this world, the hungry; all the rich are bad, like this rich man here. This sort of thinking led St. Augustine to explain the deep meaning of wealth and poverty according to the spirit of the Gospel: "Listen, poor man, to my comments on your words. When you refer to yourself as Lazarus, that holy man covered with wounds, I am afraid your pride makes you describe yourself incorrectly. Do not despise rich men who are merciful, who are humble: or, to put it briefly, do not despise poor rich men. Oh, poor man, be poor yourself; poor, that is, humble [...]. Listen to me, then. Be truly poor, be devout, be humble; if you glory in your ragged and ulcerous poverty, if you glory in likening yourself to that beggar lying outside the rich man's house, then you are only noticing his poverty, and nothing else. What should I notice you ask? Read the Scriptures and you will understand what I mean. Lazarus was poor, but he to whose bosom he was brought was rich. `It came to pass, it is written, that the poor man died and he was brought by the angels to Abraham's bosom.' To where? To Abraham's bosom, or let us say, to that mysterious place where Abraham was resting. Read [...] and remember that Abraham was a very wealthy man when he was on earth: he had abundance of money, a large family, flocks, land; yet that rich man was poor, because he was humble. `Abraham believed God and he was reckoned righteous.' [...] He was faithful, he did good, received the commandment to offer his son in sacrifice, and he did not refuse to offer what he had received to Him from whom he had received it. He was approved in God's sight and set before us as an example of faith" ("Sermon", 14).
To sum up: poverty does not consist in something purely external, in having or not having material goods, but in something that goes far deeper, affecting a person's heart and soul; it consists in having a humble attitude to God, in being devout, in having total faith. If a Christian has these virtues and also has an abundance of material possessions, he should be detached from his wealth and act charitably towards others and thus be pleasing to God. On the other hand, if someone is not well-off he is not justified in God's sight on that account, if he fails to strive to acquire those virtues in which true poverty consists.
___________________________
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 - February 14
Let Your Light Shine
You who enjoy the inestimable blessing of the true Faith, should not forget that it is a duty to do what lies in you to extend these advantages to others who as yet are strangers to the Truth, or who, having embraced it, have fallen from it, or who walk unworthy of their high calling. This work is not left entirely to priests.
You also must do your share as far as you are able. To this end all must employ the power of prayer, and the influence of a good example which, at times, is more efficacious than the most eloquent sermon. Some can do more. The spread of Catholic literature is a very powerful means. Kind, encouraging words, spoken at seasonable times, will also go a long way.
-Fiege.
_________________
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
You who enjoy the inestimable blessing of the true Faith, should not forget that it is a duty to do what lies in you to extend these advantages to others who as yet are strangers to the Truth, or who, having embraced it, have fallen from it, or who walk unworthy of their high calling. This work is not left entirely to priests.
You also must do your share as far as you are able. To this end all must employ the power of prayer, and the influence of a good example which, at times, is more efficacious than the most eloquent sermon. Some can do more. The spread of Catholic literature is a very powerful means. Kind, encouraging words, spoken at seasonable times, will also go a long way.
-Fiege.
_________________
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, February 13
PRAYER
A CHILD never complains of being unable to pray; complaints are seldom made by older people to whom prayer is not an ordinary thing or a well-known experience; it is only
those who have learnt something of the meaning and life of prayer that complain of the difficulty they find in it.
One might almost go further and assert the seeming paradox that the more we know about prayer, the more difficult it tends to become.
Of course, prayer is a gift of God, and His gifts are free from His hand and may not be purchased. Nevertheless of all His gifts perhaps none is more nearly purchasable than prayer; none, that is to say, which He more willingly gives in return for what we offer Him. more than any other of His gifts that of prayer depends on our desire for it, our efforts to attain it, and the dispositions we prepare for its reception.
Hence, while we must allow that God can and often does bestow the gift of prayer, and consolation in prayer, and life in prayer, of His own overflowing bounty and without consideration of previous dispositions, still it is also true that ordinarily, and ultimately for all, certain dispositions must always be preserved if the habit of, and interest in, and relish for prayer are to be maintained....
[Continued]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
A CHILD never complains of being unable to pray; complaints are seldom made by older people to whom prayer is not an ordinary thing or a well-known experience; it is only
those who have learnt something of the meaning and life of prayer that complain of the difficulty they find in it.
One might almost go further and assert the seeming paradox that the more we know about prayer, the more difficult it tends to become.
Of course, prayer is a gift of God, and His gifts are free from His hand and may not be purchased. Nevertheless of all His gifts perhaps none is more nearly purchasable than prayer; none, that is to say, which He more willingly gives in return for what we offer Him. more than any other of His gifts that of prayer depends on our desire for it, our efforts to attain it, and the dispositions we prepare for its reception.
Hence, while we must allow that God can and often does bestow the gift of prayer, and consolation in prayer, and life in prayer, of His own overflowing bounty and without consideration of previous dispositions, still it is also true that ordinarily, and ultimately for all, certain dispositions must always be preserved if the habit of, and interest in, and relish for prayer are to be maintained....
[Continued]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
Friday, February 12, 2010
Gospel for Saturday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial: Our Lady's Saturday
From: Mark 8:1-10
Second Miracle of the Loaves
[1] In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, He (Jesus) called His disciples to Him, and said to them, [2] "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days, and have nothing to eat; [3] and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come a long way." [4] And His disciples answered Him, "How can one feed these men with bread here in the desert?"
[5] And He asked them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven." [6] And He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves, and having given thanks He broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. [7] And they had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He commanded that these also should be set before them. [8] And they ate, and were satisfied; and took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. [9] And there were about four thousand people. [10] And He sent them away; and immediately He got into the boat with His disciples, and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
_______________
Commentary:
1-9. Jesus repeats the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish: the first time (Mark 6:33-44) He acted because He saw a huge crowd like "sheep without a shepherd"; now He takes pity on them because they have been with Him for three days and have nothing to eat.
This miracle shows how Christ rewards people who persevere in following Him: the crowd had been hanging on His words, forgetful of everything else. We should be like them, attentive and ready to do what He commands, without any vain concern about the future, for that would amount to distrusting Divine Providence.
10. "Dalmanutha": this must have been somewhere near the Lake of Gennesaret, but it is difficult to localize it more exactly. This is the only time it is mentioned in Sacred Scripture. In the parallel passage in St. Matthew (15:39) Magadan (sometime Magdala) is mentioned.
___________________________
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.
From: Mark 8:1-10
Second Miracle of the Loaves
[1] In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, He (Jesus) called His disciples to Him, and said to them, [2] "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days, and have nothing to eat; [3] and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come a long way." [4] And His disciples answered Him, "How can one feed these men with bread here in the desert?"
[5] And He asked them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven." [6] And He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves, and having given thanks He broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. [7] And they had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He commanded that these also should be set before them. [8] And they ate, and were satisfied; and took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. [9] And there were about four thousand people. [10] And He sent them away; and immediately He got into the boat with His disciples, and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
_______________
Commentary:
1-9. Jesus repeats the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish: the first time (Mark 6:33-44) He acted because He saw a huge crowd like "sheep without a shepherd"; now He takes pity on them because they have been with Him for three days and have nothing to eat.
This miracle shows how Christ rewards people who persevere in following Him: the crowd had been hanging on His words, forgetful of everything else. We should be like them, attentive and ready to do what He commands, without any vain concern about the future, for that would amount to distrusting Divine Providence.
10. "Dalmanutha": this must have been somewhere near the Lake of Gennesaret, but it is difficult to localize it more exactly. This is the only time it is mentioned in Sacred Scripture. In the parallel passage in St. Matthew (15:39) Magadan (sometime Magdala) is mentioned.
___________________________
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 - February 13
Mortification and Prayer
That mortification is a necessary preparation for prayer is a truth that all masters of the spiritual life teach us. They say that as we cannot write upon a skin of parchment if it be not well shaved, and all the flesh taken off, so if the evil inclinations of the flesh be not all rooted out of us, we have not the necessary preparation for Our Lord to write and imprint upon our hearts the characters of His grace and wisdom.
-Rodriguez.
_________________
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
That mortification is a necessary preparation for prayer is a truth that all masters of the spiritual life teach us. They say that as we cannot write upon a skin of parchment if it be not well shaved, and all the flesh taken off, so if the evil inclinations of the flesh be not all rooted out of us, we have not the necessary preparation for Our Lord to write and imprint upon our hearts the characters of His grace and wisdom.
-Rodriguez.
_________________
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, February 12
CRAVINGS
[continued from yesterday]
...At once we are troubled and distressed. We compare our present state with our last and discover what we call a falling off. We cannot help making the contrast, and it needs both effort and understanding not to draw a seemingly obvious conclusion.
If once we prayed well, and now the least prayer is a weary labour, we presume that this proves our own shortcomings. If before we could record daily victories, and now we have nothing but defeats, this we take as dear evidence that we are wholly wanting.
If now we are obsessed on every side with temptations of every nature and once we had sailed into the open sea with nothing but a straight course before us, we tell ourselves that we have gone back. Our heart becomes more hungry than ever. Having once tasted "how sweet is the Lord," it can never be satisfied with anything less; and it takes its dissatisfaction for an evil sign.
In reality it is the opposite. A hungry heart is, as we have said, the foundation of a saintly heart; it is the heart that is settled and contented, that kills its cravings and satisfies its hunger with the husks that lie about, it is such a heart that should make us uneasy. And God so loves a hungry heart that He will stir the hunger in a hundred ways. One of these is to give it just a taste of "the things that are more excellent," and then to take tbem away. Let us not be mistaken; let us not misinterpret ourselves; let us rejoice that we are made so to "hunger and thirst after justice, for we shall have our fill!"
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
[continued from yesterday]
...At once we are troubled and distressed. We compare our present state with our last and discover what we call a falling off. We cannot help making the contrast, and it needs both effort and understanding not to draw a seemingly obvious conclusion.
If once we prayed well, and now the least prayer is a weary labour, we presume that this proves our own shortcomings. If before we could record daily victories, and now we have nothing but defeats, this we take as dear evidence that we are wholly wanting.
If now we are obsessed on every side with temptations of every nature and once we had sailed into the open sea with nothing but a straight course before us, we tell ourselves that we have gone back. Our heart becomes more hungry than ever. Having once tasted "how sweet is the Lord," it can never be satisfied with anything less; and it takes its dissatisfaction for an evil sign.
In reality it is the opposite. A hungry heart is, as we have said, the foundation of a saintly heart; it is the heart that is settled and contented, that kills its cravings and satisfies its hunger with the husks that lie about, it is such a heart that should make us uneasy. And God so loves a hungry heart that He will stir the hunger in a hundred ways. One of these is to give it just a taste of "the things that are more excellent," and then to take tbem away. Let us not be mistaken; let us not misinterpret ourselves; let us rejoice that we are made so to "hunger and thirst after justice, for we shall have our fill!"
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Gospel for Friday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Mark 7:31-37
The Curing of a Deaf Man
[31] Then He (Jesus) returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. [32]And they brought Him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought Him to lay His hand upon him. [33] And taking him aside from the multitude privately, He put His fingers into his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue; [34] and looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." [35] And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. [36] And He charged them to tell no one; but the more He charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. [37] And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well; He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."
_____________________
Commentary:
32-33. Sacred Scripture quite often shows the laying on of hands as a gesture indicating the transfer of power or blessing (cf. Genesis 48:14ff; 2 Kings 5:11; Luke 13:13). Everyone knows that saliva can help heal minor cuts. In the language of Revelation fingers symbolized powerful Divine action (cf. Exodus 8:19; Psalm 8:4; Luke 11:20). So Jesus uses signs which suit in some way the effect He wants to achieve, though we can see from the text that the effect--the instantaneous cure of the deaf and dumb man--far exceeds the sign used.
In the miracle of the deaf and dumb man we can see a symbol of the way God acts on souls: for us to believe, God must first open our heart so we can listen to His word. Then, like the Apostles, we too can proclaim the "magnalia Dei", the mighty works of God (cf. Acts 2:11). In the Church's liturgy (cf. the hymn "Veni Creator") the Holy Spirit is compared to the finger of the right hand of God the Father ("Digitus paternae dexterae"). The Consoler produces in our souls, in the supernatural order, effects comparable to those which Christ produces in the body of the deaf and dumb man.
______________________
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.
The Curing of a Deaf Man
[31] Then He (Jesus) returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. [32]And they brought Him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought Him to lay His hand upon him. [33] And taking him aside from the multitude privately, He put His fingers into his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue; [34] and looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." [35] And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. [36] And He charged them to tell no one; but the more He charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. [37] And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well; He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."
_____________________
Commentary:
32-33. Sacred Scripture quite often shows the laying on of hands as a gesture indicating the transfer of power or blessing (cf. Genesis 48:14ff; 2 Kings 5:11; Luke 13:13). Everyone knows that saliva can help heal minor cuts. In the language of Revelation fingers symbolized powerful Divine action (cf. Exodus 8:19; Psalm 8:4; Luke 11:20). So Jesus uses signs which suit in some way the effect He wants to achieve, though we can see from the text that the effect--the instantaneous cure of the deaf and dumb man--far exceeds the sign used.
In the miracle of the deaf and dumb man we can see a symbol of the way God acts on souls: for us to believe, God must first open our heart so we can listen to His word. Then, like the Apostles, we too can proclaim the "magnalia Dei", the mighty works of God (cf. Acts 2:11). In the Church's liturgy (cf. the hymn "Veni Creator") the Holy Spirit is compared to the finger of the right hand of God the Father ("Digitus paternae dexterae"). The Consoler produces in our souls, in the supernatural order, effects comparable to those which Christ produces in the body of the deaf and dumb man.
______________________
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 - February 12
Do You Want Perfection?
If you aspire to such a pitch of perfection, you must daily do violence to yourself, by courageously attacking and destroying all your evil desires and affections.
In great matters as well as in small, it is necessary, then, that you prepare yourself in readiness for this conflict, for he only will be crowned who was brave in the battle.
-The Spiritual Combat.
_________________
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
If you aspire to such a pitch of perfection, you must daily do violence to yourself, by courageously attacking and destroying all your evil desires and affections.
In great matters as well as in small, it is necessary, then, that you prepare yourself in readiness for this conflict, for he only will be crowned who was brave in the battle.
-The Spiritual Combat.
_________________
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, February 11
CRAVINGS
[Continued from yesterday]
...Again, the spiritual-minded man cannot but be of an ardent nature. Keen to appreciate, he is also keen to love; and, while he grows, until his love has found its final goal, he will more than once experience the disillusion of love that has been ill-bestowed.
He will bestow it where it is not deserved, deceived by some little outward show. He will give it and it wi11 not be returned. He will pour it out, and wi11 find that the cup that should have received it, could hold so much and no more.
And meanwhile his own heart will be growing; it will yearn for something more worthy, for the best thing that may be loved; it will reach out into the infinite, both of giving and of receiving.
When it has gone thus far, when it has drunk of the best and worthiest that this life has to give, and has found it wanting, when more is not received, when the little that it had is taken away, by death, by separation, by faithlessness, by misunderstanding, by whatever cause, when the ordinary interests of flattened-out life absorb its time and powers, but have no place for the affections, there grows a sense of loss, of disappointment, which the hungry victim may too often mistake for failure.
Or thirdly, there is the result of that reaction which comes from experience; and this is of two kinds. There is the bitter discovery that men and things are not always the ideals that he had pictured in his mind.
This world, and every man in this world, is capable of so much, might be so much, if only - ! And the "if only" is frustrated by so many trifles, or else, apparently, by so much that God, if He would, could arrange!
Sometimes individuals will not see what is good, sometimes seeing they will not follow; sometimes a good thing, to us so clear, is contested, opposed, thwarted by others, apparently no less eager than ourselves in the service of God; sometimes it is circumstances that hinder any possibility of action; sometimes it is those in authority who seem to hinder. Sometimes there is actual scandal and corruption where nothing but zeal and sacrifice should reign.
In a thousand ways we "live and learn"; and it needs a patient and a persevering heart to endure loyal under the process. It begins to suspect its own cravings; perhaps it begins to resign itself to a lower satisfaction.
The second kind is the experience of ourselves. From time to time in our lives the supernatural gains a strong hold upon us. There are periods, longer or shorter, for which we can account or cannot, when we seem to awaken to a new revelation; when we see things we never saw before, when prayer becomes on a sudden a new light, at once satisfying and easy, when effort after nobler life is full of inspiration, when we scarcely touch the ground beneath us on our way to God, when we tell ourselves, with some enthusiasm, that now "we have found Him whom our soul loveth, we have held Him and will not let Him go"; that henceforth" nothing shall separate us from the love which we have in Christ Jesus Our Lord."
Then on a sudden, or perhaps it may be gradually, all this passes away. The revelation grows dim in the distance, remaining as a recollection and no more; prayer becomes again the humdrum affair it was of old, if it does not sink even lower; effort becomes impossible, progress is none, the burden of this life and its myriad temptations presses on us, we walk with leaden shackles on our feet....
[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
[Continued from yesterday]
...Again, the spiritual-minded man cannot but be of an ardent nature. Keen to appreciate, he is also keen to love; and, while he grows, until his love has found its final goal, he will more than once experience the disillusion of love that has been ill-bestowed.
He will bestow it where it is not deserved, deceived by some little outward show. He will give it and it wi11 not be returned. He will pour it out, and wi11 find that the cup that should have received it, could hold so much and no more.
And meanwhile his own heart will be growing; it will yearn for something more worthy, for the best thing that may be loved; it will reach out into the infinite, both of giving and of receiving.
When it has gone thus far, when it has drunk of the best and worthiest that this life has to give, and has found it wanting, when more is not received, when the little that it had is taken away, by death, by separation, by faithlessness, by misunderstanding, by whatever cause, when the ordinary interests of flattened-out life absorb its time and powers, but have no place for the affections, there grows a sense of loss, of disappointment, which the hungry victim may too often mistake for failure.
Or thirdly, there is the result of that reaction which comes from experience; and this is of two kinds. There is the bitter discovery that men and things are not always the ideals that he had pictured in his mind.
This world, and every man in this world, is capable of so much, might be so much, if only - ! And the "if only" is frustrated by so many trifles, or else, apparently, by so much that God, if He would, could arrange!
Sometimes individuals will not see what is good, sometimes seeing they will not follow; sometimes a good thing, to us so clear, is contested, opposed, thwarted by others, apparently no less eager than ourselves in the service of God; sometimes it is circumstances that hinder any possibility of action; sometimes it is those in authority who seem to hinder. Sometimes there is actual scandal and corruption where nothing but zeal and sacrifice should reign.
In a thousand ways we "live and learn"; and it needs a patient and a persevering heart to endure loyal under the process. It begins to suspect its own cravings; perhaps it begins to resign itself to a lower satisfaction.
The second kind is the experience of ourselves. From time to time in our lives the supernatural gains a strong hold upon us. There are periods, longer or shorter, for which we can account or cannot, when we seem to awaken to a new revelation; when we see things we never saw before, when prayer becomes on a sudden a new light, at once satisfying and easy, when effort after nobler life is full of inspiration, when we scarcely touch the ground beneath us on our way to God, when we tell ourselves, with some enthusiasm, that now "we have found Him whom our soul loveth, we have held Him and will not let Him go"; that henceforth" nothing shall separate us from the love which we have in Christ Jesus Our Lord."
Then on a sudden, or perhaps it may be gradually, all this passes away. The revelation grows dim in the distance, remaining as a recollection and no more; prayer becomes again the humdrum affair it was of old, if it does not sink even lower; effort becomes impossible, progress is none, the burden of this life and its myriad temptations presses on us, we walk with leaden shackles on our feet....
[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Gospel for Thursday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial: Our Lady of Lourdes
From: Mark 7:24-30
The Curing of the Syrophoenician Woman
[24] And from there he (Jesus) arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house, and would not have any one know it; yet he could not be hid. [25] But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet. [26] Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. [27] And he said to her, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." [28] But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." [29] And he said to her, "For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter." [30] And she went home, and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone.
______________________
Commentary:
24. The region of Tyre and Sidon is nowadays the southern part of Lebanon--Phoenicia in ancient times. The distance from the lake of Gennesaret to the frontier of Tyre and Sidon is not more than 50 kms (30 miles). Jesus withdrew from Palestine to avoid persecution by the Jewish authorities and to give the Apostles more intensive training.
27. Our Lord actually uses the diminutive--"little dogs" to refer to the Gentiles--thereby softening a scornful _expression which Jews used. On the episode of the Canaanite woman cf. notes on parallel passages, Mt 15:21-28.
[The notes on Mt 15:21-28 states:
21-22. Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast, in present-day Lebanon. They were never part of Galilee but they were near its northeastern border. In Jesus' time they were outside the territory of Herod Antipas. Jesus withdrew to this area to escape persecution from Herod and from the Jewish authorities and to concentrate on training His Apostles.
Most of the inhabitants of the district of Tyre and Sidon were pagans. St. Matthew calls this woman a "Canaanite"; according to Genesis (10:15), this district was one of the first to be settled by the Canaanites; St. Mark describes the woman as a "Syrophoenician" (Mark 7:26). Both Gospels point out that she is a pagan, which means that her faith in our Lord is more remarkable; the same applies in the case of the centurion (Matthew 8:5-13).
The Canaanite woman's prayer is quite perfect: she recognizes Jesus as the Messiah (the Son of David)--which contrasts with the unbelief of the Jews; she expresses her need in clear, simple words; she persists, undismayed by obstacles; and she expresses her request in all humility: "Have mercy on me." Our prayer should have the same qualities of faith, trust, perseverance and humility.
24. What Jesus says here does not take from the universal reference of His teaching (cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16). Our Lord came to bring His Gospel to the whole world, but He Himself addressed only the Jews; later on He will charge His Apostles to preach the Gospel to pagans. St. Paul, in his missionary journeys, also adopted the policy of preaching in the first instance to the Jews (Acts 13:46).
25-28. This dialogue between Jesus and the woman is especially beautiful. By appearing to be harsh He so strengthens the woman's faith that she deserves exceptional praise: "Great is your faith!" Our own conversation with Christ should be like that: "Persevere in prayer. Persevere, even when your efforts seem barren. Prayer is always fruitful" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 101).]
___________________________
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.
From: Mark 7:24-30
The Curing of the Syrophoenician Woman
[24] And from there he (Jesus) arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house, and would not have any one know it; yet he could not be hid. [25] But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet. [26] Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. [27] And he said to her, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." [28] But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." [29] And he said to her, "For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter." [30] And she went home, and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone.
______________________
Commentary:
24. The region of Tyre and Sidon is nowadays the southern part of Lebanon--Phoenicia in ancient times. The distance from the lake of Gennesaret to the frontier of Tyre and Sidon is not more than 50 kms (30 miles). Jesus withdrew from Palestine to avoid persecution by the Jewish authorities and to give the Apostles more intensive training.
27. Our Lord actually uses the diminutive--"little dogs" to refer to the Gentiles--thereby softening a scornful _expression which Jews used. On the episode of the Canaanite woman cf. notes on parallel passages, Mt 15:21-28.
[The notes on Mt 15:21-28 states:
21-22. Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast, in present-day Lebanon. They were never part of Galilee but they were near its northeastern border. In Jesus' time they were outside the territory of Herod Antipas. Jesus withdrew to this area to escape persecution from Herod and from the Jewish authorities and to concentrate on training His Apostles.
Most of the inhabitants of the district of Tyre and Sidon were pagans. St. Matthew calls this woman a "Canaanite"; according to Genesis (10:15), this district was one of the first to be settled by the Canaanites; St. Mark describes the woman as a "Syrophoenician" (Mark 7:26). Both Gospels point out that she is a pagan, which means that her faith in our Lord is more remarkable; the same applies in the case of the centurion (Matthew 8:5-13).
The Canaanite woman's prayer is quite perfect: she recognizes Jesus as the Messiah (the Son of David)--which contrasts with the unbelief of the Jews; she expresses her need in clear, simple words; she persists, undismayed by obstacles; and she expresses her request in all humility: "Have mercy on me." Our prayer should have the same qualities of faith, trust, perseverance and humility.
24. What Jesus says here does not take from the universal reference of His teaching (cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16). Our Lord came to bring His Gospel to the whole world, but He Himself addressed only the Jews; later on He will charge His Apostles to preach the Gospel to pagans. St. Paul, in his missionary journeys, also adopted the policy of preaching in the first instance to the Jews (Acts 13:46).
25-28. This dialogue between Jesus and the woman is especially beautiful. By appearing to be harsh He so strengthens the woman's faith that she deserves exceptional praise: "Great is your faith!" Our own conversation with Christ should be like that: "Persevere in prayer. Persevere, even when your efforts seem barren. Prayer is always fruitful" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 101).]
___________________________
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.
Dr Edward Peters: Some options for responding to the Albany diocese's needle exchange program
Dr Peters writes:
I have made the case that, in authorizing a needle-exchange program, Albany's Bishop Hubbard, et al., is formally* cooperating with the evil of drug abuse. As no man can judge his own cause, however, I must leave to others to decide whether I have made the case against the bishop's decision adequately....Read more here.
Principles and Practices - February 11
The Soul Needs Direction
When choosing a director, be careful to select one who has the necessary qualifications. He should be not only virtuous, but prudent, charitable, and learned. St. Francis de Sales gives the following opinion on the subject:
_________________
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
When choosing a director, be careful to select one who has the necessary qualifications. He should be not only virtuous, but prudent, charitable, and learned. St. Francis de Sales gives the following opinion on the subject:
'"Go," said Tobias to his son, when about to send him into a strange country, "go seek some wise man to conduct you." I say the same to you, Philothea. If you sincerely desire to enter upon the way of devotion, seek a good guide to direct you therein. This advice is of the utmost importance and necessity. Whatever one may do, says the devout Avila, he can never be certain of fulfilling God's will unless he practise that humble obedience which the saints so strongly recommended and to which they so faithfully adhere. And the Scriptures tell us: "A faithful friend is a strong defence: and he that hath found him hath found a treasure:...a faithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality: and they that fear the Lord shall find one."'-Quadrupani.
_________________
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, February 10
CRAVINGS
[Continued from yesterday]
...Thus is this almost infinite craving an essential characteristic of sanctity; without it a man would not rise above this world, with it he becomes the greatest among men.
It has two necessary consequences; it explains that paradox, that consciousness at once of success and failure, which seems to run through the lives of all the saints, and indeed of all who, though not saints, nevertheless aspire after sanctity.
Their cravings make them do greater things than it is given to less hungry hearts to do; these same cravings make them dissatisfied with all that they have done, so that in the end they can only cry out: "I am a useless servant!"
The humility of the saint, such a contradiction to those who look on from the outside, is no contradiction in itself; it is only a recognition of the vast difference between all that he accomplishes and the glorious ideal which he has before him. Let us look at this a little more closely, for it touches perhaps the darkest spot in the lives of many.
It is of the essence of growth of any kind to become disillusioned. A child is delighted with its toys; it grows, and immediately discards them; it has been disillusioned. A boy or girl revels in a certain kind of story; they grow, and tend to pity those who understand no more. A youth is keen to excel in sport or games; he grows, and only the battlefield or the government of men will satisfy him. And with the spiritual-minded man it is the same.
He may have revelled in the enjoyment of this life, and even for a time have found it sufficient. But one day he begins to grow. He discovers there are more things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in this world's philosophy. His knowledge of the more and greater things creates some disgust for the little things around him with which, nevertheless, so long as he lives, his life must be filled up. He is a little disillusioned, exactly as the child, the boy, the youth; and the consequent sense of disappointment, or failure, he may easily take for more than he should....
[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
[Continued from yesterday]
...Thus is this almost infinite craving an essential characteristic of sanctity; without it a man would not rise above this world, with it he becomes the greatest among men.
It has two necessary consequences; it explains that paradox, that consciousness at once of success and failure, which seems to run through the lives of all the saints, and indeed of all who, though not saints, nevertheless aspire after sanctity.
Their cravings make them do greater things than it is given to less hungry hearts to do; these same cravings make them dissatisfied with all that they have done, so that in the end they can only cry out: "I am a useless servant!"
The humility of the saint, such a contradiction to those who look on from the outside, is no contradiction in itself; it is only a recognition of the vast difference between all that he accomplishes and the glorious ideal which he has before him. Let us look at this a little more closely, for it touches perhaps the darkest spot in the lives of many.
It is of the essence of growth of any kind to become disillusioned. A child is delighted with its toys; it grows, and immediately discards them; it has been disillusioned. A boy or girl revels in a certain kind of story; they grow, and tend to pity those who understand no more. A youth is keen to excel in sport or games; he grows, and only the battlefield or the government of men will satisfy him. And with the spiritual-minded man it is the same.
He may have revelled in the enjoyment of this life, and even for a time have found it sufficient. But one day he begins to grow. He discovers there are more things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in this world's philosophy. His knowledge of the more and greater things creates some disgust for the little things around him with which, nevertheless, so long as he lives, his life must be filled up. He is a little disillusioned, exactly as the child, the boy, the youth; and the consequent sense of disappointment, or failure, he may easily take for more than he should....
[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
Faithfully Serving Their Master, Satan
If ones business is abortion, then promoting promiscuity would be good for that business. What demons are among us!
IPPF Wants Fifth Graders Taught "The Pleasures of Sex"Continued here
The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) today released a report entitled “Stand and Deliver: Sex, health and young people in the 21st Century.”
I’m guessing the title eludes to the critically acclaimed film “Stand and Deliver” starring Edward James Olmos in which he played a dedicated math teacher who challenges his erstwhile high school dropouts to learn calculus. In the movie, these misunderstood yet courageous young people come of age, metaphorically, as they realize their true potential.
As it happens, according to the Web site phrases.org, the phrase “stand and deliver… was used by 17th century highwaymen (robbers) in the UK, when holding up stagecoaches.” It literally means, “Stop and give me your valuables.”
Come to think of it, given the contents of this ghastly report, the title may be apropos after all because what the IPPF wants to do is hold our children up and steal their innocence, their childhoods and worst of all, their sexual morality...
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Gospel for Wednesday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial: St Scholastica, Virgin
From: Mark 7:14-23
What Defiles a Man
[14] And He (Jesus) called the people to meet Him, and said to them, "Hear Me, all of you, and understand: [15] there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things that come out of a man are what defile him." [17] And when He had entered the house, and left the people, His disciples asked Him about the parable. [18] And He said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, [19] since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.) [20] And He said, "What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. [21] For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, [22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.
_______________________
Commentary:
15. Some important codexes add here: "If any man has ears to hear, let him hear," which would form verse 16.
18-19. We know from Tradition that St. Mark was the interpreter of St. Peter and that, in writing his Gospel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he gathered up the Roman catechesis of the head of the Apostles.
The vision which St. Peter had in Joppa (Acts 10:10-16) showed him the full depth of what Jesus teaches here about food. When he returns to Jerusalem, St. Peter himself tells us this in his report on the conversion of Cornelius: "I remembered the word of the Lord" (Acts 11:16). The now non-obligatory character of such prescriptions laid down by God in the Old Testament (cf. Leviticus 11) would have been something St. Peter included in his preaching. For interpretation of this text cf. also note on Matthew 15:10-20.
[Note on Matthew 15:10-20 states:
10-20. Our Lord proclaims the true meaning of moral precepts and makes it clear that man has to answer to God for his actions. The scribes' mistake consisted in concentrating on externals and not giving pride of place to interior purity of heart. For example they saw prayer in terms of exact recital of fixed forms of words rather than as a raising of the soul to God (cf. Matthew 6:5-6). The same thing happened in the case of dietary regulations.
Jesus avails Himself of the particular cases dealt with in this passage to teach us where to find the true center of moral action: it lies in man's personal decision, good or evil, a decision which is shaped in his heart and which then is expressed in the form of action. For example, the sins which our Lord lists are sins committed in the human heart prior to being acted out. In the Sermon on the Mount He already said this: "Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28).]
20-23. "In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses the _expression `heart' in its full meaning, as the summary and source, _expression and ultimate basis, of one's thoughts, words and actions" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 164).
The goodness or malice, the moral quality, of our actions does not depend on their spontaneous, instinctive character. The Lord Himself tells us that sinful actions can come from the human heart.
We can understand how this can happen if we realize that, after original sin, man "was changed for the worse" in both body and soul and was, therefore, prone to evil (cf. Council of Trent, "De Peccato Originali"). Our Lord here restores morality in all its purity and intensity.
___________________________
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.
From: Mark 7:14-23
What Defiles a Man
[14] And He (Jesus) called the people to meet Him, and said to them, "Hear Me, all of you, and understand: [15] there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things that come out of a man are what defile him." [17] And when He had entered the house, and left the people, His disciples asked Him about the parable. [18] And He said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, [19] since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.) [20] And He said, "What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. [21] For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, [22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.
_______________________
Commentary:
15. Some important codexes add here: "If any man has ears to hear, let him hear," which would form verse 16.
18-19. We know from Tradition that St. Mark was the interpreter of St. Peter and that, in writing his Gospel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he gathered up the Roman catechesis of the head of the Apostles.
The vision which St. Peter had in Joppa (Acts 10:10-16) showed him the full depth of what Jesus teaches here about food. When he returns to Jerusalem, St. Peter himself tells us this in his report on the conversion of Cornelius: "I remembered the word of the Lord" (Acts 11:16). The now non-obligatory character of such prescriptions laid down by God in the Old Testament (cf. Leviticus 11) would have been something St. Peter included in his preaching. For interpretation of this text cf. also note on Matthew 15:10-20.
[Note on Matthew 15:10-20 states:
10-20. Our Lord proclaims the true meaning of moral precepts and makes it clear that man has to answer to God for his actions. The scribes' mistake consisted in concentrating on externals and not giving pride of place to interior purity of heart. For example they saw prayer in terms of exact recital of fixed forms of words rather than as a raising of the soul to God (cf. Matthew 6:5-6). The same thing happened in the case of dietary regulations.
Jesus avails Himself of the particular cases dealt with in this passage to teach us where to find the true center of moral action: it lies in man's personal decision, good or evil, a decision which is shaped in his heart and which then is expressed in the form of action. For example, the sins which our Lord lists are sins committed in the human heart prior to being acted out. In the Sermon on the Mount He already said this: "Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28).]
20-23. "In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses the _expression `heart' in its full meaning, as the summary and source, _expression and ultimate basis, of one's thoughts, words and actions" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 164).
The goodness or malice, the moral quality, of our actions does not depend on their spontaneous, instinctive character. The Lord Himself tells us that sinful actions can come from the human heart.
We can understand how this can happen if we realize that, after original sin, man "was changed for the worse" in both body and soul and was, therefore, prone to evil (cf. Council of Trent, "De Peccato Originali"). Our Lord here restores morality in all its purity and intensity.
___________________________
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 - February 10
Worry Weakens
Do all you can to overcome a difficulty. When you have done your best, dismiss the matter from your mind. Worry about it no more. It is out of your hands. Worry serves only to diminish the strength for endurance.
-A Catholic Priest.
_________________
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
Do all you can to overcome a difficulty. When you have done your best, dismiss the matter from your mind. Worry about it no more. It is out of your hands. Worry serves only to diminish the strength for endurance.
-A Catholic Priest.
_________________
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, February 9
CRAVINGS
[Continued from yesterday]
...He will set out to conquer nations or to govern them: he will make himself a leader of men for good or for evil; such we call a general or a statesman. A third is roused to remedy the evils of his time, whether they be real or imagined, religious or political, or social. He forms his theory, he has his own end in view, he multiplies his following; for good or for evil, his mark on the world is permanent. Such a man we call a reformer, or a revolutionist, as the case may be.
Yet a fourth is filled with a craving for that which no deed, or triumph, or reform in the world can give him. He hungers for that which is beyond the world's edge; he must leap out to it, grasp it, and live the life of man towards it; for this end every sacrifice in this world is a negligible quantity. Such a man we call a saint, at least such are the foundations of a saint, and it is on this account that the saints are the greatest among mankind.
They are, we assert, the greatest men among mankind, even judged by man's own standards. For if greatness consists in the violence of one's craving, the object towards which it tends, and the force with which it is followed, then do the saints compare with and surpass all the greatest heroes in the world. In other men the range is avowedly confined to this life and all that it contains; for them the horizon loses itself in the mist of the infinite, their aspirations are infinite in range, infinite in possibilities, and therefore beyond the power of eye to see, or ear to hear, or the heart of man to conceive.
Others have human ends, they make use of human means; these make light of what is human, they take its effects as but the by-product of their labour, and for the means, they "have nothing and possess all things," "glory in their infirmities that the power of God may be manifested in them," take it as their principle that "the weak things of this world hath God chosen to confound the strong."...
[Continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
[Continued from yesterday]
...He will set out to conquer nations or to govern them: he will make himself a leader of men for good or for evil; such we call a general or a statesman. A third is roused to remedy the evils of his time, whether they be real or imagined, religious or political, or social. He forms his theory, he has his own end in view, he multiplies his following; for good or for evil, his mark on the world is permanent. Such a man we call a reformer, or a revolutionist, as the case may be.
Yet a fourth is filled with a craving for that which no deed, or triumph, or reform in the world can give him. He hungers for that which is beyond the world's edge; he must leap out to it, grasp it, and live the life of man towards it; for this end every sacrifice in this world is a negligible quantity. Such a man we call a saint, at least such are the foundations of a saint, and it is on this account that the saints are the greatest among mankind.
They are, we assert, the greatest men among mankind, even judged by man's own standards. For if greatness consists in the violence of one's craving, the object towards which it tends, and the force with which it is followed, then do the saints compare with and surpass all the greatest heroes in the world. In other men the range is avowedly confined to this life and all that it contains; for them the horizon loses itself in the mist of the infinite, their aspirations are infinite in range, infinite in possibilities, and therefore beyond the power of eye to see, or ear to hear, or the heart of man to conceive.
Others have human ends, they make use of human means; these make light of what is human, they take its effects as but the by-product of their labour, and for the means, they "have nothing and possess all things," "glory in their infirmities that the power of God may be manifested in them," take it as their principle that "the weak things of this world hath God chosen to confound the strong."...
[Continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
Monday, February 08, 2010
Gospel for Tuesday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Mark 7:1-13
The Tradition of the Elders
[1] Now when the Pharisees gathered together to Him (Jesus), with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, [2] they saw that some of His disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. [3] (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders; [4] and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.) [5] And the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?" [6] And He said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; [7] in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.' [8] You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men. [9] And He said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! [10] For Moses said, "Honor your father and your mother'; and `He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die'; [11] but you say, `If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban' (that is, given to God)--[12] then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, [13] thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do."
_________________________
Commentary:
1-2. Hands were washed not for reasons of hygiene or good manners but because the custom had religious significance: it was a rite of purification. In Exodus 30:17ff the Law of God laid down how priests should wash before offering sacrifice. Jewish tradition had extended this to all Jews before every meal, in an effort to give meals a religious significance, which was reflected in the blessings which marked the start of meals. Ritual purification was a symbol of the moral purity a person should have when approaching God (Psalm 24:3ff; 51:4 and 9); but the Pharisees had focused on the mere external rite. Therefore Jesus restores the genuine meaning of these precepts of the Law, whose purpose is to teach the right way to render homage to God (cf. John 4:24).
3-5. We can see clearly from this text that very many of those to whom St. Mark's Gospel was first addressed were Christians who had been pagans and were unfamiliar with Jewish customs. The Evangelist explains these customs in some detail, to help them realize the significance of the events and teachings reported in the Gospel story.
Similarly, Sacred Scripture needs to be preached and taught in a way which puts it within reach of its hearers. This is why Vatican II teaches that "it is for the bishops suitable to instruct the faithful [...] by giving them translations of the sacred texts which are equipped with necessary and really adequate explanations. Thus the children of the Church can familiarize themselves safely and profitably with the Sacred Scriptures, and become steeped in their spirit" ("Dei Verbum", 25).
11-13. For an explanation of this text cf. note on Mt. 15:5-6. Jesus Christ, who is the authentic interpreter of the Law, because as God He is its author, explains the scope of the fourth commandment and points out the mistakes made by the Jewish casuistry. There were many other occasions when He corrected mistaken interpretations offered by the Jewish teachers: for example, when He recalls that phrase of the Old Testament, "Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6, 1 Samuel 15:22; Sirach 35:4) in Matthew 9:13.
[The note on Matthew 15:5-6 states:
5-6. Over the years teachers of the Law (scribes) and priests of the temple had distorted the true meaning of the fourth commandment. In Jesus' time, they were saying that people who contributed to the temple in cash or in kind were absolved from supporting their parents: it would be sacrilegious for parents to lay claim to this "corban" (offerings for the altar). People educated in this kind of thinking felt that they were keeping the fourth commandment--in fact, fulfilling it in the best way possible--and they were praised for their piety by the religious leaders of the nation. But what in fact it meant was that, under the cloak of piety, they were leaving elderly parents to fend for themselves. Jesus, who is Messiah and God, is the one who can correctly interpret the Law. Here He explains the proper scope of the fourth commandment, exposing the error of Jewish practice at the time.
For Christians, therefore, the fourth commandment includes affectionate help of parents if they are old or needy, even if one has other family, social or religious obligations to attend to. Children should check regularly on whether they are looking after their parents properly.]
___________________________
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.
The Tradition of the Elders
[1] Now when the Pharisees gathered together to Him (Jesus), with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, [2] they saw that some of His disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. [3] (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders; [4] and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.) [5] And the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?" [6] And He said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; [7] in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.' [8] You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men. [9] And He said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! [10] For Moses said, "Honor your father and your mother'; and `He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die'; [11] but you say, `If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban' (that is, given to God)--[12] then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, [13] thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do."
_________________________
Commentary:
1-2. Hands were washed not for reasons of hygiene or good manners but because the custom had religious significance: it was a rite of purification. In Exodus 30:17ff the Law of God laid down how priests should wash before offering sacrifice. Jewish tradition had extended this to all Jews before every meal, in an effort to give meals a religious significance, which was reflected in the blessings which marked the start of meals. Ritual purification was a symbol of the moral purity a person should have when approaching God (Psalm 24:3ff; 51:4 and 9); but the Pharisees had focused on the mere external rite. Therefore Jesus restores the genuine meaning of these precepts of the Law, whose purpose is to teach the right way to render homage to God (cf. John 4:24).
3-5. We can see clearly from this text that very many of those to whom St. Mark's Gospel was first addressed were Christians who had been pagans and were unfamiliar with Jewish customs. The Evangelist explains these customs in some detail, to help them realize the significance of the events and teachings reported in the Gospel story.
Similarly, Sacred Scripture needs to be preached and taught in a way which puts it within reach of its hearers. This is why Vatican II teaches that "it is for the bishops suitable to instruct the faithful [...] by giving them translations of the sacred texts which are equipped with necessary and really adequate explanations. Thus the children of the Church can familiarize themselves safely and profitably with the Sacred Scriptures, and become steeped in their spirit" ("Dei Verbum", 25).
11-13. For an explanation of this text cf. note on Mt. 15:5-6. Jesus Christ, who is the authentic interpreter of the Law, because as God He is its author, explains the scope of the fourth commandment and points out the mistakes made by the Jewish casuistry. There were many other occasions when He corrected mistaken interpretations offered by the Jewish teachers: for example, when He recalls that phrase of the Old Testament, "Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6, 1 Samuel 15:22; Sirach 35:4) in Matthew 9:13.
[The note on Matthew 15:5-6 states:
5-6. Over the years teachers of the Law (scribes) and priests of the temple had distorted the true meaning of the fourth commandment. In Jesus' time, they were saying that people who contributed to the temple in cash or in kind were absolved from supporting their parents: it would be sacrilegious for parents to lay claim to this "corban" (offerings for the altar). People educated in this kind of thinking felt that they were keeping the fourth commandment--in fact, fulfilling it in the best way possible--and they were praised for their piety by the religious leaders of the nation. But what in fact it meant was that, under the cloak of piety, they were leaving elderly parents to fend for themselves. Jesus, who is Messiah and God, is the one who can correctly interpret the Law. Here He explains the proper scope of the fourth commandment, exposing the error of Jewish practice at the time.
For Christians, therefore, the fourth commandment includes affectionate help of parents if they are old or needy, even if one has other family, social or religious obligations to attend to. Children should check regularly on whether they are looking after their parents properly.]
___________________________
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.
New Scandal Strikes USCCB
From RealCatholicTV.com:
As more and more attention is being focused on the goings-on at the Catholic Bishops' Conference, it's important to try and keep it all straight.
The Church in America (and throughout the world) needs prayers.
The leaders are under heavy attack from the Enemy and the laity must rise to the occasion.
To that end, we share the following with you.
Please circulate it among as many friends as possible.
Michael Voris
~senior executive producer, RealCatholicTV.com
Principles and Practices - February 9
Cultivate A Clear Conscience
Let us watch and pray particularly that we may have a conscience, not morbid, indeed, but really awake. Above all, let us cultivate communion with God; a hundred 'cases of conscience' will solve themselves if we live near Him.
-Moule.
_________________
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
Let us watch and pray particularly that we may have a conscience, not morbid, indeed, but really awake. Above all, let us cultivate communion with God; a hundred 'cases of conscience' will solve themselves if we live near Him.
-Moule.
_________________
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, February 8
The School of Love
CRAVINGS
THERE is one characteristic common to all great souls, whether they be good or evil, in whatever sphere they may be found. It is seen in a Byron, or a Shelley, or a Goethe, in an Alexander, a Caesar, a Napoleon, in a Luther, a Calvin, a Wesley, in a Paul, a Xavier, a Teresa.
In some it attains to some issue, though never to a complete satisfaction; in others it seems only to add to the tragedy of life, rendering it broken-winged and desperate.
This common characteristic is a certain craving to be something more than merely ordinary, to do something more than it is given to everyone to do, to attain to some end above the common; this alone seems to them to justify life.
As Browning has put it:
[Continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
CRAVINGS
THERE is one characteristic common to all great souls, whether they be good or evil, in whatever sphere they may be found. It is seen in a Byron, or a Shelley, or a Goethe, in an Alexander, a Caesar, a Napoleon, in a Luther, a Calvin, a Wesley, in a Paul, a Xavier, a Teresa.
In some it attains to some issue, though never to a complete satisfaction; in others it seems only to add to the tragedy of life, rendering it broken-winged and desperate.
This common characteristic is a certain craving to be something more than merely ordinary, to do something more than it is given to everyone to do, to attain to some end above the common; this alone seems to them to justify life.
As Browning has put it:
A man's reach should be beyond his grasp,One man will endeavour to satisfy this craving in words. He will dive through life itself and fathom its depths; he will disclose its pearls or its weeds as the case may be; such a man we call either a poet or a philosopher, or both. Another will express it in action....
Or what's a Heaven for?"
[Continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Gospel for Monday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial: St Jerome Emiliani, Priest
Optional Memorial: St Josephine Bakhita, Virgin
From: Mark 6:53-56
Cures at Gennesaret
[53] And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. [54] And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him (Jesus), [55] and ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard He was. [56] And wherever He came in, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought Him that they might touch even the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were made well.
________________
Commentary:
There is no commentary in the Navarre Bible for this part of the Gospel. Please reflect on God's word and invite the Holy Spirit to enter your heart with His inspiration.
[I have included the noted from A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, published by Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1953:]
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.
Optional Memorial: St Josephine Bakhita, Virgin
From: Mark 6:53-56
Cures at Gennesaret
[53] And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. [54] And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him (Jesus), [55] and ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard He was. [56] And wherever He came in, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought Him that they might touch even the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were made well.
________________
Commentary:
There is no commentary in the Navarre Bible for this part of the Gospel. Please reflect on God's word and invite the Holy Spirit to enter your heart with His inspiration.
[I have included the noted from A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, published by Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1953:]
53. The plain at the north-west of the Lake was called Gennesar. It was renown for its fertility.___________________________
55-56. Once more we see the unbounded enthusiasm of the crowd as they bring their sick to be healed by Christ.
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 - February 8
The Necessary Duty
The realization of the presence of God is the reliable safeguard against sin. It is the only way to keep the proper object of life in view, and to make sure that the motive of conduct is right. Unless we see God somehow in everything we do we shall never get the support we need to purify our intention, and to finish our task. To remember God means to fight valiantly all the time of trials and to persevere till the victory is won. How can it be done?
-Anonymous.
_________________
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 realization of the presence of God is the reliable safeguard against sin. It is the only way to keep the proper object of life in view, and to make sure that the motive of conduct is right. Unless we see God somehow in everything we do we shall never get the support we need to purify our intention, and to finish our task. To remember God means to fight valiantly all the time of trials and to persevere till the victory is won. How can it be done?
-Anonymous.
_________________
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, February 7
The School of Love
LONELINESS
[Continued from yesterday]
...Then, having "given us an example," having justified, as it were, our complainings by His own, He proceeds to soothe the bitterness for those who must needs undergo it. "My little children," He calls them, on the eve of the great Day of Loneliness.
"Let not your heart be troubled," He says, "nor 1et it be afraid....It is expedient for you that I go, for if I go not the Spirit will not come to you;" and He bribes them to go through with it because of all that is to follow.
Last of all, He assures them that it will not be all desertion: "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. Now indeed you have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you."
Then, as if to support Himself by the same argument by which He supports them, He concludes:
"Behold the hour cometh, and it is now come, that you shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me."
Nowhere has Christ our Lord come nearer to us than in His loneliness and ours. Now here has He shown Himself more human. Nowhere has He more condoned the cry of pain, the appeal for some relief; nowhere has He done more, by example and by promise, to nerve us to endurance.
And the truth of His promise who that has tried does not know? St. Paul speaks for such as these, and they echo his words which have for them a meaning all their own: "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 shan be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
LONELINESS
[Continued from yesterday]
...Then, having "given us an example," having justified, as it were, our complainings by His own, He proceeds to soothe the bitterness for those who must needs undergo it. "My little children," He calls them, on the eve of the great Day of Loneliness.
"Let not your heart be troubled," He says, "nor 1et it be afraid....It is expedient for you that I go, for if I go not the Spirit will not come to you;" and He bribes them to go through with it because of all that is to follow.
Last of all, He assures them that it will not be all desertion: "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. Now indeed you have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you."
Then, as if to support Himself by the same argument by which He supports them, He concludes:
"Behold the hour cometh, and it is now come, that you shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me."
Nowhere has Christ our Lord come nearer to us than in His loneliness and ours. Now here has He shown Himself more human. Nowhere has He more condoned the cry of pain, the appeal for some relief; nowhere has He done more, by example and by promise, to nerve us to endurance.
And the truth of His promise who that has tried does not know? St. Paul speaks for such as these, and they echo his words which have for them a meaning all their own: "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 shan be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Gospel for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
From: Luke 5:1-11
The Miraculous Catch of Fish and the Calling of the First Disciples
[1] While the people pressed upon Him (Jesus) to hear the word of God, He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. [2] And He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. [3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when He had ceased speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." [5] And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, [7] they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. [8] But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." [9] For he was astonished, and all that were with Him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; [10] And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." [11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
__________________________
Commentary:
1. "Just as they do today! Can't you see? They want to hear God's message, even though outwardly they may not show it. Some perhaps haveforgotten Christ's teachings. Others, through no fault of their own, have never known them and they think that religion is something odd. But of this we can be sure, that in every man's life there comes a time sooner or later when his soul draws the line. He has had enough of the usual explanations. The lies of the false prophets no longer satisfy. Even though they may not admit it at the time, such people are longing to quench their thirst with the teachings of our Lord" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 260).
3. The Fathers saw in Simon's boat a symbol of the pilgrim Church on earth. "This is the boat which according to St. Matthew was in danger of sinking and according to St. Luke was filled with fish. Here we can see the difficult beginnings of the Church and its later fruitfulness" (St. Ambrose, "Expositio Evangelii sec. Lucam, in loc."). Christ gets into the boat in order to teach the crowds--and from the barque of Peter, the Church, He continues to teach the whole world.
Each of us can also see himself as this boat Christ uses for preaching. Externally no change is evident: "What has changed? There is a change inside our soul, now that Christ has come aboard, as He went aboard Peter's boat. Its horizon has been expanded. It feels a greater ambition to serve and an irrepressible desire to tell all creation about the "magnalia Dei" (Acts 2:11), the marvellous doings of our Lord, if only we let Him work" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 265).
4. "When He had finished His catechizing, He told Simon: `Put out into the deep, and lower your nets for a catch.' Christ is the master of this boat. He it is who prepares the fishing. It is for this that He has come into the world, to do all He can so that His brothers may find the way to glory and to the love of the Father" ("Friends of God", 260). To carry this task out, our Lord charges all of them to cast their nets, but it is only Peter He tells to put out into the deep.
This whole passage refers in some way to the life of the Church. In the Church the bishop of Rome, Peter's successor, "is the vicar of Jesus Christ because he represents Him on earth and acts for Him in the government of the Church" ("St. Pius X Catechism", 195). Christ is also addressing each one of us, urging us to be daring in apostolate: `"Duc in altum. Put out into deep water!' Throw aside the pessimism that makes a coward of you. `Et laxate retia vestra in capturam. And pay out you nets for a catch.' Don't you see that you, like Peter, can say: `In nomine tuo, laxabo rete': Jesus, if You say so, I will search for souls?" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 792).
"If you were to fall into the temptation of wondering, `Who's telling me to embark on this?', we would have reply, `Christ Himself is telling you, is begging you.' `The harvest is plentiful enough, but the laborers are few. You must ask the Lord to whom the harvest belongs to send laborers out for the harvesting' (Matthew 9:37-38). Don't take the easy way out. Don't say, `I'm no good at this sort of thing; there are others who can do it; it isn't my line.' No, for this sort of thing, there is no one else: if you could get away with that argument, so could everyone else. Christ's plea is addressed to each and every Christian. No one can consider himself exempt, for whatever reason--age, health or occupation. There are no excuses whatsoever.
Either we carry out a fruitful apostolate, or our faith will prove barren" ("Friends of God", 272).
5. When Christ gives him these instructions, Peter states the difficulties involved. "A reasonable enough reply. The night hours were the normal time for fishing, and this time the catch had yielded nothing. What was the point of fishing by day? But Peter has faith: `But at Your word I will let down the nets.' He decides to act on Christ's suggestion. He undertakes the work relying entirely on the word of our Lord" ("Friends of God", 261).
8. Peter does not want Christ to leave him; aware of his sins, he declares his unworthiness to be near Christ. This reminds us of the attitude of the centurion who confesses his unworthiness to receive Jesus into his house (Matthew 8:8). The Church requires her children to repeat these exact words of the centurion before receiving the Blessed Eucharist. She also teaches us to show due external reverence to the Blessed Sacrament when going to Communion: by falling down on his knees Peter also shows that internal adoration of God should be also be expressed externally.
11. Perfection is not simply a matter of leaving all things but of doing so in order to follow Christ--which is what the Apostles did: they gave up everything in order to be available to do what God's calling involved.
We should develop this attitude of availability, for "Jesus isn't satisfied `going halves': He wants the lot" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 155).
If we don't give ourselves generously we will find it very difficult to follow Jesus: "Detach yourself from people and things until you are stripped of them. For, says Pope St. Gregory, the devil has nothing of his own in this world, and naked he comes to battle. If you go clothed to fight him, you will soon be pulled to the ground: for he will have something to catch you by" ("The Way", 149).
___________________________
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.
The Miraculous Catch of Fish and the Calling of the First Disciples
[1] While the people pressed upon Him (Jesus) to hear the word of God, He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. [2] And He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. [3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when He had ceased speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." [5] And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, [7] they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. [8] But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." [9] For he was astonished, and all that were with Him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; [10] And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." [11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
__________________________
Commentary:
1. "Just as they do today! Can't you see? They want to hear God's message, even though outwardly they may not show it. Some perhaps haveforgotten Christ's teachings. Others, through no fault of their own, have never known them and they think that religion is something odd. But of this we can be sure, that in every man's life there comes a time sooner or later when his soul draws the line. He has had enough of the usual explanations. The lies of the false prophets no longer satisfy. Even though they may not admit it at the time, such people are longing to quench their thirst with the teachings of our Lord" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 260).
3. The Fathers saw in Simon's boat a symbol of the pilgrim Church on earth. "This is the boat which according to St. Matthew was in danger of sinking and according to St. Luke was filled with fish. Here we can see the difficult beginnings of the Church and its later fruitfulness" (St. Ambrose, "Expositio Evangelii sec. Lucam, in loc."). Christ gets into the boat in order to teach the crowds--and from the barque of Peter, the Church, He continues to teach the whole world.
Each of us can also see himself as this boat Christ uses for preaching. Externally no change is evident: "What has changed? There is a change inside our soul, now that Christ has come aboard, as He went aboard Peter's boat. Its horizon has been expanded. It feels a greater ambition to serve and an irrepressible desire to tell all creation about the "magnalia Dei" (Acts 2:11), the marvellous doings of our Lord, if only we let Him work" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 265).
4. "When He had finished His catechizing, He told Simon: `Put out into the deep, and lower your nets for a catch.' Christ is the master of this boat. He it is who prepares the fishing. It is for this that He has come into the world, to do all He can so that His brothers may find the way to glory and to the love of the Father" ("Friends of God", 260). To carry this task out, our Lord charges all of them to cast their nets, but it is only Peter He tells to put out into the deep.
This whole passage refers in some way to the life of the Church. In the Church the bishop of Rome, Peter's successor, "is the vicar of Jesus Christ because he represents Him on earth and acts for Him in the government of the Church" ("St. Pius X Catechism", 195). Christ is also addressing each one of us, urging us to be daring in apostolate: `"Duc in altum. Put out into deep water!' Throw aside the pessimism that makes a coward of you. `Et laxate retia vestra in capturam. And pay out you nets for a catch.' Don't you see that you, like Peter, can say: `In nomine tuo, laxabo rete': Jesus, if You say so, I will search for souls?" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 792).
"If you were to fall into the temptation of wondering, `Who's telling me to embark on this?', we would have reply, `Christ Himself is telling you, is begging you.' `The harvest is plentiful enough, but the laborers are few. You must ask the Lord to whom the harvest belongs to send laborers out for the harvesting' (Matthew 9:37-38). Don't take the easy way out. Don't say, `I'm no good at this sort of thing; there are others who can do it; it isn't my line.' No, for this sort of thing, there is no one else: if you could get away with that argument, so could everyone else. Christ's plea is addressed to each and every Christian. No one can consider himself exempt, for whatever reason--age, health or occupation. There are no excuses whatsoever.
Either we carry out a fruitful apostolate, or our faith will prove barren" ("Friends of God", 272).
5. When Christ gives him these instructions, Peter states the difficulties involved. "A reasonable enough reply. The night hours were the normal time for fishing, and this time the catch had yielded nothing. What was the point of fishing by day? But Peter has faith: `But at Your word I will let down the nets.' He decides to act on Christ's suggestion. He undertakes the work relying entirely on the word of our Lord" ("Friends of God", 261).
8. Peter does not want Christ to leave him; aware of his sins, he declares his unworthiness to be near Christ. This reminds us of the attitude of the centurion who confesses his unworthiness to receive Jesus into his house (Matthew 8:8). The Church requires her children to repeat these exact words of the centurion before receiving the Blessed Eucharist. She also teaches us to show due external reverence to the Blessed Sacrament when going to Communion: by falling down on his knees Peter also shows that internal adoration of God should be also be expressed externally.
11. Perfection is not simply a matter of leaving all things but of doing so in order to follow Christ--which is what the Apostles did: they gave up everything in order to be available to do what God's calling involved.
We should develop this attitude of availability, for "Jesus isn't satisfied `going halves': He wants the lot" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 155).
If we don't give ourselves generously we will find it very difficult to follow Jesus: "Detach yourself from people and things until you are stripped of them. For, says Pope St. Gregory, the devil has nothing of his own in this world, and naked he comes to battle. If you go clothed to fight him, you will soon be pulled to the ground: for he will have something to catch you by" ("The Way", 149).
___________________________
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 - February 7
Watch the Beginnings
If, after having committed one mortal sin, we try to go back to the desire which caused the act, to the thought from which sprung the desire, to the occasion which gave rise to the thought, we would but find a mere trifle, something almost imperceptible - a word of double meaning which we listened to with a smile; a useless explanation which we asked for simply through curiosity; a casual glance cast on some object, I know not for what reason, although my conscience urged me to refrain from it; a prayer omitted because it would have put me to some inconvenience, and instead of it I did something which pleased me; a moment of work abandoned, in order to follow some vague idea floating through my mind.
-Golden Grains.
_________________
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
If, after having committed one mortal sin, we try to go back to the desire which caused the act, to the thought from which sprung the desire, to the occasion which gave rise to the thought, we would but find a mere trifle, something almost imperceptible - a word of double meaning which we listened to with a smile; a useless explanation which we asked for simply through curiosity; a casual glance cast on some object, I know not for what reason, although my conscience urged me to refrain from it; a prayer omitted because it would have put me to some inconvenience, and instead of it I did something which pleased me; a moment of work abandoned, in order to follow some vague idea floating through my mind.
-Golden Grains.
_________________
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, February 6
The School of Love
LONELINESS
[Continued from yesterday]
...So does God deal with His own, above all with those of His own whom He has chosen to use for others. And the reason is not hard to discover. There are three schools of suffering, each with its own special blessing to bestow - physical, mental, and that inner school which lies behind them both, loneliness of soul.
Physical suffering makes for tenderness of heart and a patient judgment. Mental suffering gives a deepened sympathy, an active influence which when "lifted up draws all things to itself."
But loneliness of soul does more than this; it gives independence and strength. Even in the natural plane it secures liberty of spirit, it develops clearness of judgment, it enforces power of will. But this is by no means all.
In the Old Testament Wisdom is heard to say: "Come with me into a silent place apart, and I will speak to thy soul;" and no one who has heard the calling of the Holy Spirit can misunderstand what this means - the deafness to His voice that may be caused by the din of men, and the clear ring that is given to His words when they come to us across the desert through the night.
Loneliness of soul gives wisdom - that breadth of vision that belongs to him who sees all the valley from the hill-top.
Loneliness of soul gives understanding - that further power of seeing beneath the surfaces of life.
Loneliness of soul gives counsel to sustain another, and fortitude to "endure its own burthen; all the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost come through and are fostered by loneliness of soul.
These are some of the fruits of this special school of suffering. None the less, let it not be forgotten that a school of suffering it is.
We are not speaking here of the loneliness which is a joy and a comfort, in which, as the poptilar phrase goes, one is "never less alone than when alone"; we are speaking of that sense of desertion, of alienation from one's kindred, of being somehow out of joint with all the world, of separation from God Himself, which human nature can scarcely endure; which even our Lord Himself considered to justify a cry for relief.
Physical suffering He foresaw for His disciples, but He merely bade them rejoice at the prospect. Mental suffering He also promised them; this, again, they were to take as a sign that His blessing was upon them. But loneliness of soul He treats quite differently. Its agony He fully recognises; He is not afraid to let them see its effect upon Himself.
In the Garden, on the Cross, His cries had almost scandalised posterity. And as for His whole life - an angel lost and brokenwinged in this poor world would be a pitiable, lonely thing; what then must have been the loneliness of the exiled Son 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
LONELINESS
[Continued from yesterday]
...So does God deal with His own, above all with those of His own whom He has chosen to use for others. And the reason is not hard to discover. There are three schools of suffering, each with its own special blessing to bestow - physical, mental, and that inner school which lies behind them both, loneliness of soul.
Physical suffering makes for tenderness of heart and a patient judgment. Mental suffering gives a deepened sympathy, an active influence which when "lifted up draws all things to itself."
But loneliness of soul does more than this; it gives independence and strength. Even in the natural plane it secures liberty of spirit, it develops clearness of judgment, it enforces power of will. But this is by no means all.
In the Old Testament Wisdom is heard to say: "Come with me into a silent place apart, and I will speak to thy soul;" and no one who has heard the calling of the Holy Spirit can misunderstand what this means - the deafness to His voice that may be caused by the din of men, and the clear ring that is given to His words when they come to us across the desert through the night.
Loneliness of soul gives wisdom - that breadth of vision that belongs to him who sees all the valley from the hill-top.
Loneliness of soul gives understanding - that further power of seeing beneath the surfaces of life.
Loneliness of soul gives counsel to sustain another, and fortitude to "endure its own burthen; all the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost come through and are fostered by loneliness of soul.
These are some of the fruits of this special school of suffering. None the less, let it not be forgotten that a school of suffering it is.
We are not speaking here of the loneliness which is a joy and a comfort, in which, as the poptilar phrase goes, one is "never less alone than when alone"; we are speaking of that sense of desertion, of alienation from one's kindred, of being somehow out of joint with all the world, of separation from God Himself, which human nature can scarcely endure; which even our Lord Himself considered to justify a cry for relief.
Physical suffering He foresaw for His disciples, but He merely bade them rejoice at the prospect. Mental suffering He also promised them; this, again, they were to take as a sign that His blessing was upon them. But loneliness of soul He treats quite differently. Its agony He fully recognises; He is not afraid to let them see its effect upon Himself.
In the Garden, on the Cross, His cries had almost scandalised posterity. And as for His whole life - an angel lost and brokenwinged in this poor world would be a pitiable, lonely thing; what then must have been the loneliness of the exiled Son 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
Friday, February 05, 2010
Gospel for Saturday, 4th Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial: St Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
From: Mark 6:30-34
The Apostles Return
[30] The Apostles returned to Jesus, and told Him all that they had done and taught. [31] And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. [32] And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.
First Miracles of the Loaves
[33] Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from the towns, and got there ahead of them. [34] As He landed He saw a great throng, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.
_________________________
Commentary:
30-31. We can see here the intensity of Jesus' public ministry. Such was His dedication to souls that St. Mark twice mentions that the disciples did not even have time to eat (cf. Mark 3:20). A Christian should be ready to sacrifice his time and even his rest in the service of the Gospel. This attitude of availability will lead us to change our plans whenever the good of souls so requires.
But Jesus also teaches us here to have common sense and not to go to such extremes that we physically cannot cope: "The Lord makes His disciples rest, to show those in charge that people who work or preach cannot do so without breaks" (St. Bede, "In Marci Evangelium Expositio, in loc."). "He who pledges himself to work for Christ should never have a free moment, because to rest is not to do nothing: it is to relax in activities which demand less effort" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 357).
34. Our Lord had planned a period of rest, for Himself and His disciples, from the pressures of the apostolate (Mark 6:31-32). And He has to change His plans because so many people come, eager to hear Him speak. Not only is He not annoyed with them: He feels compassion on seeing their spiritual need. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). They need instruction and our Lord wants to meet this need by preaching to them. "Jesus is moved by hunger and sorrow, but what moves Him most is ignorance" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 109).
___________________________
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.
From: Mark 6:30-34
The Apostles Return
[30] The Apostles returned to Jesus, and told Him all that they had done and taught. [31] And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. [32] And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.
First Miracles of the Loaves
[33] Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from the towns, and got there ahead of them. [34] As He landed He saw a great throng, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.
_________________________
Commentary:
30-31. We can see here the intensity of Jesus' public ministry. Such was His dedication to souls that St. Mark twice mentions that the disciples did not even have time to eat (cf. Mark 3:20). A Christian should be ready to sacrifice his time and even his rest in the service of the Gospel. This attitude of availability will lead us to change our plans whenever the good of souls so requires.
But Jesus also teaches us here to have common sense and not to go to such extremes that we physically cannot cope: "The Lord makes His disciples rest, to show those in charge that people who work or preach cannot do so without breaks" (St. Bede, "In Marci Evangelium Expositio, in loc."). "He who pledges himself to work for Christ should never have a free moment, because to rest is not to do nothing: it is to relax in activities which demand less effort" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 357).
34. Our Lord had planned a period of rest, for Himself and His disciples, from the pressures of the apostolate (Mark 6:31-32). And He has to change His plans because so many people come, eager to hear Him speak. Not only is He not annoyed with them: He feels compassion on seeing their spiritual need. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). They need instruction and our Lord wants to meet this need by preaching to them. "Jesus is moved by hunger and sorrow, but what moves Him most is ignorance" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 109).
___________________________
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 - February 6
How To Begin The Day
On awakening, make the sign of the cross; invoke the holy names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; consecrate yourself to God in union of disposition with Jesus Christ awaking and rising, and offer Him the actions of the day, in these or similar words. 'All for Thee alone, O my God! all for the greater glory and the love of Mary.'
-Manual of Piety.
_________________
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
On awakening, make the sign of the cross; invoke the holy names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; consecrate yourself to God in union of disposition with Jesus Christ awaking and rising, and offer Him the actions of the day, in these or similar words. 'All for Thee alone, O my God! all for the greater glory and the love of Mary.'
-Manual of Piety.
_________________
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, February 5
LONELINESS
[Continued from yesterday]
...If in the days of God's manifest guidance this is true, no less is it true in the days of hidden grace. Our Lord Himself was alone; in the wilderness of humanity He lived, so long a time, and men did not know Him.
He was in the world, and the world knew Him hot; He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.
His fellow-Nazarenes claimed to know Him, and did not. His enemies knew Him and refused to own it. His friends - at one point in His life "many went back and walked no more with Him"; at another "all fled away"; at the very end He had to say: "How long a time have I been with you, and you have not known me!"
He was born deserted, He lived alone, He died a lonely criminal's death; and if we want a proof that He felt it, we have it, first, in His frequent cries of pain, and second, in the eager way He grasped at and rewarded every mark of companionship offered Him.
As with the Master so it was with the disciple. St. Paul's aloneness begins with his conversion; when he rose from his bed and his blindness God took him "into a silent place apart," to the desert of Arabia, and there He "spoke to his soul." And since his time, what has been the tale of every saint's life but one of a lonely heart, separated and hedged around, "a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up," above all of such saints as were called to do a great life's work in the midst of men?
We think of Cistercians and Carthusians, of Carmelites and Poor Clares, and fancy their lives are buried all alone in their cloisters; those who know have not very far to seek to find lonelier lives than theirs. Francis Xavier, to take but a single instance - how far more alone he stands, in the welter of human life in the midst of which he lived, than does St. Bruno himself on his lonely mountain-side!....
[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
[Continued from yesterday]
...If in the days of God's manifest guidance this is true, no less is it true in the days of hidden grace. Our Lord Himself was alone; in the wilderness of humanity He lived, so long a time, and men did not know Him.
He was in the world, and the world knew Him hot; He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.
His fellow-Nazarenes claimed to know Him, and did not. His enemies knew Him and refused to own it. His friends - at one point in His life "many went back and walked no more with Him"; at another "all fled away"; at the very end He had to say: "How long a time have I been with you, and you have not known me!"
He was born deserted, He lived alone, He died a lonely criminal's death; and if we want a proof that He felt it, we have it, first, in His frequent cries of pain, and second, in the eager way He grasped at and rewarded every mark of companionship offered Him.
As with the Master so it was with the disciple. St. Paul's aloneness begins with his conversion; when he rose from his bed and his blindness God took him "into a silent place apart," to the desert of Arabia, and there He "spoke to his soul." And since his time, what has been the tale of every saint's life but one of a lonely heart, separated and hedged around, "a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up," above all of such saints as were called to do a great life's work in the midst of men?
We think of Cistercians and Carthusians, of Carmelites and Poor Clares, and fancy their lives are buried all alone in their cloisters; those who know have not very far to seek to find lonelier lives than theirs. Francis Xavier, to take but a single instance - how far more alone he stands, in the welter of human life in the midst of which he lived, than does St. Bruno himself on his lonely mountain-side!....
[continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Gospel for Friday, 4th Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial: St Agatha, Virgin and Martyr
From: Mark 6:14-29
Opinions About Jesus
[14] King Herod heard of it; for Jesus' name had become known. Some said, "John the Baptizer has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work with Him." [15] But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." [16] But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised."
John the Baptist Beheaded
[17] For Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; because he had married her. [18] For John said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." [19] And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, [20] for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly. [21] But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee. [22] For when Herodias' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it." [23] And he said to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." [24] And she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptizer." [25] And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptizer on a platter." [26] And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oath and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. [27] And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave him orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in prison, [28] and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. [29] When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
_______________________
Commentary:
14. Following the popular custom, St. Mark called Herod "king", but in strict legal terminology he was only tetrarch, which is the way St. Matthew (14:1) and St. Luke (9:7) describe him, that is, a governor of certain consequence. The Herod referred to here was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great who was king of the Jews at the time of Jesus' birth.
16-29. It is interesting that the extensive account of the death of John the Baptist is inserted here in the Gospel narrative. The reason is St. John the Baptist's special relevance in the history of salvation: he is the Precursor, entrusted with the task of preparing the way for the Messiah. Besides, John the Baptist had a great reputation among the people: they believed him to be a prophet (Mark 11:32); some even thought he was the Messiah (Luke 3:15; John 1:20); and they flocked to him from many places (Mark 1:5). Jesus Himself said: "Among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist" (Matthew 11:11). Later, the Apostle St. John will speak of him in the Gospel: "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John" (John 1:6); but the sacred text points out that, despite this, he was not the light, but rather the witness to the light (John 5:35). We are told here that he was a righteous man and preached to everyone what had to be preached: he had a word for people at large, for publicans, for soldiers (Luke 3:10-14); for Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 3:7-12); for King Herod himself (Mark 6: 18-20). This humble, upright and austere man paid with his life for the witness he bore to Jesus the Messiah (John 1:29 and 36-37).
26. Oaths and promises immoral in content should never be made, and, if made, should never be kept. This is the teaching of the Church, which is summed up in the "St. Pius X Catechism", 383, in the following way: "Are we obliged to keep oaths we have sworn to do unjust and unlawful things? Not only are we not obliged: we sin by making such oaths, for they are prohibited by the Law of God or of the Church.
___________________________
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.
From: Mark 6:14-29
Opinions About Jesus
[14] King Herod heard of it; for Jesus' name had become known. Some said, "John the Baptizer has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work with Him." [15] But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." [16] But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised."
John the Baptist Beheaded
[17] For Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; because he had married her. [18] For John said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." [19] And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, [20] for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly. [21] But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee. [22] For when Herodias' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it." [23] And he said to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." [24] And she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptizer." [25] And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptizer on a platter." [26] And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oath and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. [27] And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave him orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in prison, [28] and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. [29] When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
_______________________
Commentary:
14. Following the popular custom, St. Mark called Herod "king", but in strict legal terminology he was only tetrarch, which is the way St. Matthew (14:1) and St. Luke (9:7) describe him, that is, a governor of certain consequence. The Herod referred to here was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great who was king of the Jews at the time of Jesus' birth.
16-29. It is interesting that the extensive account of the death of John the Baptist is inserted here in the Gospel narrative. The reason is St. John the Baptist's special relevance in the history of salvation: he is the Precursor, entrusted with the task of preparing the way for the Messiah. Besides, John the Baptist had a great reputation among the people: they believed him to be a prophet (Mark 11:32); some even thought he was the Messiah (Luke 3:15; John 1:20); and they flocked to him from many places (Mark 1:5). Jesus Himself said: "Among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist" (Matthew 11:11). Later, the Apostle St. John will speak of him in the Gospel: "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John" (John 1:6); but the sacred text points out that, despite this, he was not the light, but rather the witness to the light (John 5:35). We are told here that he was a righteous man and preached to everyone what had to be preached: he had a word for people at large, for publicans, for soldiers (Luke 3:10-14); for Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 3:7-12); for King Herod himself (Mark 6: 18-20). This humble, upright and austere man paid with his life for the witness he bore to Jesus the Messiah (John 1:29 and 36-37).
26. Oaths and promises immoral in content should never be made, and, if made, should never be kept. This is the teaching of the Church, which is summed up in the "St. Pius X Catechism", 383, in the following way: "Are we obliged to keep oaths we have sworn to do unjust and unlawful things? Not only are we not obliged: we sin by making such oaths, for they are prohibited by the Law of God or of the Church.
___________________________
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 - February 5
Divine and Human Holiness
The Divine holiness serves as the first foundation, the universal exemplar and the one source of all created holiness. You understand that, necessarily loving Himself with infinite perfection, God also necessarily wills that every creature should exist for the manifestation of His glory, and that, remaining in the rank of creature, it should only act conformably to the relations of dependence and of end that the Eternal Wisdom finds in the Divine Essence.
Our holiness will be the higher according as there will be in us more loving dependence on God and conformity of our free will to our ultimate end (which is the manifestation of the Divine Glory). The more we adhere to God by detaching ourselves from all that is not God, the more this dependence, conformity, adhesion, and detachment are firm and stable.
-Marmion.
_________________
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 Divine holiness serves as the first foundation, the universal exemplar and the one source of all created holiness. You understand that, necessarily loving Himself with infinite perfection, God also necessarily wills that every creature should exist for the manifestation of His glory, and that, remaining in the rank of creature, it should only act conformably to the relations of dependence and of end that the Eternal Wisdom finds in the Divine Essence.
Our holiness will be the higher according as there will be in us more loving dependence on God and conformity of our free will to our ultimate end (which is the manifestation of the Divine Glory). The more we adhere to God by detaching ourselves from all that is not God, the more this dependence, conformity, adhesion, and detachment are firm and stable.
-Marmion.
_________________
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, February 4
The School of Love
LONELINESS
[Continued from yesterday]
...Yet it is this very thing which God has chosen to be the school of training for His own. He has shown it without possibility of mistake. Look down the line of the Old Testament, and you will find it written everywhere. At this distance of time and space it is not easy for us to distinguish the details; we see in history the broad effects of lives, we do not always read between the lines and detect the causes which those effects imply.
But we have only to hold our gaze steady, to wait for the haze to lift, and this detail at least will grow upon us. Abraham - what was he but a model of loneliness? "In those days God said to Abraham: Leave thy country and thy father's house and come into a land which I shall show thee."
Moses, the saviour of his people, must first be brought up in an alien's house, and must then be made perfect in a wilderness.
David was a lonely man. No otherwise could he have known the depth of soul that cried out in his lament for the loss of Saul and Jonathan; no otherwise could he have learnt to endure and love on when friend and foe alike turned against him.
And the prophets, the giants of the latter age, Amos and Osee, Isaias and J eremias, Ezekiel and Daniel - what are they but gaunt lonely figures, standing out upon the distant sky-line, with the red light of a setting sun behind them?
Last of all comes the Baptist, the man of all men lonely, bestriding the gulf that separates two worlds, who because of his momentous mission must needs be alone from his childhood....
[Continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
LONELINESS
[Continued from yesterday]
...Yet it is this very thing which God has chosen to be the school of training for His own. He has shown it without possibility of mistake. Look down the line of the Old Testament, and you will find it written everywhere. At this distance of time and space it is not easy for us to distinguish the details; we see in history the broad effects of lives, we do not always read between the lines and detect the causes which those effects imply.
But we have only to hold our gaze steady, to wait for the haze to lift, and this detail at least will grow upon us. Abraham - what was he but a model of loneliness? "In those days God said to Abraham: Leave thy country and thy father's house and come into a land which I shall show thee."
Moses, the saviour of his people, must first be brought up in an alien's house, and must then be made perfect in a wilderness.
David was a lonely man. No otherwise could he have known the depth of soul that cried out in his lament for the loss of Saul and Jonathan; no otherwise could he have learnt to endure and love on when friend and foe alike turned against him.
And the prophets, the giants of the latter age, Amos and Osee, Isaias and J eremias, Ezekiel and Daniel - what are they but gaunt lonely figures, standing out upon the distant sky-line, with the red light of a setting sun behind them?
Last of all comes the Baptist, the man of all men lonely, bestriding the gulf that separates two worlds, who because of his momentous mission must needs be alone from his childhood....
[Continued tomorrow]
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
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