Keep
your eyes open!...
July 29, 2024
(Jud 1:17-19) But
you, my dearly beloved, be mindful of the words which have been spoken
before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who told you that in
the last time there should come mockers, walking according to their own
desires in ungodlinesses. These are they who separate themselves,
sensual men, having not the Spirit.
BISHOP BARRON ON X: My thoughts on the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics
PRINTABLE PDF: Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: Catholic leaders join French bishops in condemning Last Supper scene at Paris Olympics opening
Bishops and prominent prelates from around the world have joined the
French Bishops’ Conference and U.S. bishops in criticizing the Paris
Olympics opening ceremony held on July 26 for its depiction of the Last
Supper, calling it a deeply deplorable derision of Christianity.
The controversial scene, part of the 1.5 billion euros (about $1.62
billion) spectacle to kick off the 2024 Summer Olympics in a
rain-soaked French capital on Friday, featured drag queens portraying
the apostles and an overweight DJ as Jesus in what appeared to be a
part of a fashion show — apparently mocking Leonardo da Vinci’s famous
painting.
The official Olympics Twitter account described part of the scene as
depicting “the Greek God Dionysus“ making people “aware of the
absurdity of violence between human beings.“ In a statement
released Saturday, the French bishops expressed deep regret over
“scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we deeply
deplore.”
“We thank the members of other religious denominations who have expressed their solidarity,” the statement on July 27 continued.
“This morning, we think of all Christians on all continents who have
been hurt by the outrage and provocation of certain scenes.” The
bishops added: “We hope they understand that the Olympic celebration
extends far beyond the ideological preferences of some artists.”
Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta said on X he had sent messages to
the French Ambassador to Malta, expressing his “distress and great
disappointment at the insult to us Christians during the opening
ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics when a group of drag artists
parodied the Last Supper of Jesus.” The prelate, who also is a Vatican
official, said he encouraged others to write the ambassador.
Bishop Andrew Cozzens, chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on
Evangelization and Catechesis, issued a statement calling on Catholics
to respond to the Paris incident with prayer and fasting.
Referencing the recent National Eucharistic Congress, Bishop Cozzens
wrote, “Jesus experienced his Passion anew Friday night in Paris when
his Last Supper was publicly defamed.“ “France and the entire world are
saved by the love poured out through the Mass, which came to us through
the Last Supper. Inspired by the many martyrs who shed their blood to
witness to the truth of the Mass, we will not stand aside and quietly
abide as the world mocks our greatest gift from the Lord Jesus,“ the
bishop wrote. “Rather, through our prayer and fasting, we will
ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen us with the virtue of fortitude so
that we may preach Christ—our Lord and Savior, truly present in the
Eucharist—for the Glory of God and the Salvation of Souls.“
Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester called on Catholics to “make
their voices heard” in response to what he termed “the gross mockery of
the Last Supper.”
The Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, Archbishop Fernando Chomali,
expressed disappointment with “the grotesque parody of the most sacred
thing we Catholics have, the Eucharist,” ACI Prensa, CNA’s
Spanish-language news partner, reported. “The intolerance of the
‘tolerant’ has no limit. This is not the way to build a fraternal
society. We witnessed nihilism at its maximum expression,” he added.
German Bishop Stefan Oster called the “queer Last Supper” scene “a low
point and completely superfluous in the staging,” in a post by the
German Bishops’ Conference.
Fray Nelson Medina, a well-known Colombian Dominican priest with a vast
social media apostolate, stated that he “will not watch a single scene
from the Olympic Games. How disgusting what they have done mocking the
Lord Jesus Christ and his supreme gift of love. And they are cowards:
they wouldn’t mess with Muhammad.”
Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne, Australia, commented on X: “I prefer the original.”
BISHOP STRICKLAND ON X:
The bigotry toward Christians and the blasphemy of Jesus Christ, God’s
Divine Son on display at the Olympics is a new low for our human
community. Shame on those who produced this mockery, shame on the
Olympic Committee and the nation of France for allowing it. This
tarnishes what should be the noble celebration of sport and competition.
I urge the athletes not to run for the fading crown of worldly acclaim,
instead run for the crown that does not fade, eternal life in Jesus
Christ, the risen Son of God.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
49.
A hermit said, 'When the donkey's eyes are covered it walks round the
mill-wheel. If you uncover its eyes, it will not go on walking in the
circle. So if the devil succeeds in covering a man's eyes, he leads him
into every kind of sin. But if the man's eyes are uncovered, he can
more easily escape.'
July 26, 2024
(Jas 4:7-8) Be
subject therefore to God. But resist the devil: and he will fly from
you. Draw nigh to God: and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your
hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
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SAINT BENEDICT CENTER: A Reflection on the Virtue of Perseverance
EXCERPT TRADITION & SANITY SUBSTACK: To a Friend, on Persevering in a Most Unholy and Unchristian Age
Catholicism isn’t primarily about “the Church”—that is, the Church on
earth in her structures, laws, works, affairs. It’s about union with
Christ, which is the Church’s reason for existing. In baptism I died
and rose with Him; in the Eucharist I receive Him. There is no other
reason to belong to the Church except to guarantee life from the Life,
light from the Light. The Church gives me access to Him by divine
guarantee, and that’s why I’m a Catholic. I’m not a Catholic in order
to have access to clergy or even to glorious liturgies; I welcome the
(good) clergy and the (good) liturgies because they lead me closer to
Him, Who is my life and my light. He is the measure, the meaning, the
goal, of all of it.
The Church on earth has been corrupt in her hierarchy in some other
ages, too, but we survived those centuries—by God’s grace, the Church
is still here, and more importantly, Christ is still among us and
within us. As our Byzantine brethren say: “Christ is among us! He is
and ever shall be!” Because of that abiding Presence, periods of
renewal followed, ignited by this or that (good) reformer or reforming
movement. Not everyone who lived during the dark times got to see the
renewal that came later. Human beings usually don’t live long enough to
see major changes from good to bad or bad to good, which tend to move
at a glacial pace in comparison with a normal lifespan. But it was the
fidelity of the little ones who lived in the worst times that carried
the Church forward from one unexpected triumph to the next, like
watchmen awake at their posts between dusk and dawn.
Unlike certain voices out there who think they are “putting things in
perspective” by reassuring us that we are passing through “just another
crisis, and not the worst, among the many crises that the Church of God
has had to face over twenty centuries of history,” I believe we are
looking at the historic nadir of the Catholic Church on earth, next to
which the Arian crisis of the fourth century and the Protestant revolt
of the sixteenth look like rough drafts. Yet anyone living during the
life of St. Athanasius of Alexandria could have placed what would have
seemed like a highly probable bet that Nicene orthodoxy was doomed and
would disappear as a matter of course; and anyone living in the middle
of the sixteenth century might have been tempted to make a similar
prognosis for Europe, congested with ecclesiastical corruption and
ravaged by false reform.
The same is true now: There are those who are asserting that the Papacy
is empty, or that there’s no chance of recovery; we are too far gone;
we are doomed. Tradition-loving orthodox Catholics are holding an
impossible position; they are a trivial minority; they can be crushed
in an instant by the gears of power.
But why should we think Satan finally has God “stumped”—has Him backed
into a corner from which there is no escape? Do we think so highly of
Satan’s power—or so poorly of God’s?
At the end of the day, there are two alternatives: faith or nihilism.
For the thinking man, it comes down to these two, and the only goal in
life is to become a saint or to die trying.
The saints are madmen, but so are the atheists (e.g., Marx, Nietzsche,
Derrida, Dawkins). I would rather cast my lot with the saints. Call it
an updated Pascal’s Wager: I would rather take all my chances on the
promise of eternal life with Christ in the glorious City of God than
throw away the hope of it for the sake of ephemeral, unsatisfying
worldly gains. I would rather bet on the hidden power of Christ that
bursts forth in flower in every soul that prays, sacrifices, and loves,
than surrender to the skepticism that looks around at the world and
says: “It’s a gigantic, meaningless mess…”; or “The Church is a
gigantic, hopeless mess. It’s not what it claims to be. Either Christ
lied, or He’s abandoned us…”; or: “Christianity is a gigantic system of
guilt-driven repression and exploitation by which pastors profit at the
expense of the sheep.” No, I have caught a glimpse of “the fairest of
the sons of men” (Ps 44:3), and that beauty is worth more than anything
else; I’ve heard a whisper of the One of whom people said, “Never did
man speak like this man” (Jn 7:46), and it captivates me more than all
writings and conversations of lesser mortals.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
48. A hermit said to a brother,
'The devil is like a hostile neighbour and you are like a house. The
enemy continually throws all the dirt that he can find into your
house. It is your business to throw out whatever he throws in. If you
neglect to do this, your house will be so full of mud that you will not
be able to get inside. From the moment he begins to throw it in, put it
out again, bit by bit; and so with Christ's help your house will remain
clean.'
July 24, 2024
(Heb 12:1-2) And
therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head,
laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by
patience to the fight proposed to us: Looking on Jesus, the author and
finisher of faith, who, having joy set before him, endured the cross,
despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of
God.
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YOUTUBE MOVIE: Saint Charbel
EXCERPT CNEWA: Saint Sharbel: Lebanon’s “Paradoxical artisan of peace”
Against his
family’s wishes, Yusif left home at the age of 23, to join first the
Monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouk, and then the more secluded Monastery
of St. Maron, at Annaya. Both monasteries were run by monks of the
Maronite order, a rite which arose from the Antiochene tradition. The
beginnings of the Maronite church can be traced to the hermit, St.
Maron, who chose to perpetuate the teachings of St. Peter.
Shortly after settling at Annaya,
Yusif changed his name to Sharbel (also spelled Charbel), after one of
the first martyrs of the Church of Antioch.
After several years of strenuous
study, Sharbel was ordained a priest on July 23, 1859, and for the next
16 years he settled into a devout existence at the Monastery. As farm
work provided the food for the community, the saint’s time was divided
between prayer and work in the fields.
Possessed of an extreme spiritual
detachment, though, Father Sharbel was not content in merely giving up
the world and its possessions. He sought even further self-denial at a
nearby place of solitude called “mahbasse,” or hermitage.
This hermitage of Saints Peter and
Paul is a quiet refuge 5,200 feet above sea level. It was here that
Sharbel completely devoted his life to God. He slept on a mattress of
straw and used a log for a pillow. He ate once a day, a meal consisting
of vegetables or herbs, but never any meat. For twenty-three years he
prayed, fasted and adored God as a hermit.
Then, on December 16, 1898, Sharbel
suffered a stroke while saying Mass. Eight days later, on Christmas
Eve, he died. As was the custom, he was buried in the monastery’s
cemetery, dressed in his religious habit.
While Sharbel’s physical life
ended, his spiritual presence was, and is still being felt. Soon after
his burial, many priests and other witnesses saw light surrounding the
tomb. When the grave was reopened, four months later, the body was
found incorrupt, as it remains to this day.
Gradually, pilgrims, as well as
local people, began to come to the tomb to pray. With Sharbel’s
spiritual help, great numbers of cures (with no medical explanation)
have taken place. The blind see, the deaf hear and sickness disappears.
Today, pilgrimages to the hermitage attract thousands of people.
Called “the Great wonder-worker of
this century,” Father Sharbel was elevated to the ranks of Blessed on
December 5, 1965. Ten years later his cause was completed, but the
Lebanese civil war blocked plans for an earlier canonization date.
Finally, on October 9, 1977, in
ceremonies designed to promote Moslem-Christian unity, the Lebanese
monk was canonized in St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Paul VI celebrated the
canonization Mass, surrounded by Maronite leaders, including Patriarch
Antoine Pierre Khoraiche of Antioch and Bishop Francis M. Zayek, of St.
Maron Diocese in Detroit, Michigan.
In his address, Pope Paul called
Sharbel’s life “a quest for sanctity,” continuing that “his life is the
most perfect conformity to the humble and poor Christ.” Perhaps
Sharbel’s greatest miracle is the spiritual community developing
between the Christians and Moslems of Lebanon. Divided in so many other
areas, the faithful of both religions have shared in the saint’s
miraculous powers.
Every day, greater numbers of believers seek St. Sharbel’s help. He is truly a “star” in the troubled Near Eastern sky.
BLOG: Saint Sharbel's Biography
CELEBRATE LIFE MAGAZINE: Five Lessons We Can Learn from St. Charbel Makhlouf
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
47. A hermit said, 'Take care to be
silent. Empty your mind. Attend to your meditation in the fear of God,
whether you are resting or at work. If you do this, you will not fear
the attacks of the demons.'
July 18, 2024
(2Ti 4:2-4) Preach
the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke
in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time when they will
not endure sound doctrine but, according to their own desires, they
will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears: And will indeed
turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables.
NCR ARCHIVES: Cardinal Robert Sarah: On the Credibility of the Catholic Church
CERC: Cardinal Robert Sarah: A Prophetic Voice for the Catholic Church
X: THE DECEPTIVE SEDUCTIONS OF SUPPOSEDLY EMANCIPATED LIFE
NICOLAS DIAT: Modern life is looking more and more like a permanent party.
ROBERT CARDINAL SARAH:
People seem to be obsessed with monotony and sadness. In order to ward
off fear, they continually lose their way and then dust themselves off.
Now their joys are artificial, since they follow from the sad reign of
enjoyment and ease.
In so-called developed societies,
the moral and spiritual poverty is immense. Partying becomes the only
means of forgetting the nothingness into which individuals have fallen.
The more man destroys himself, the
more he feels the need to find treatments for his interior crisis: at
the end of that passionate quest, Asian philosophies look like miracle
drugs.
Man rushes from festivities to
vacations, from trips to banquets. Life is one big game. Anything
exotic is promising. Even funerals are not supposed to be sad now. You
have to sing and laugh until the last moments. How can men applaud the
dead as they enter or leave the church? How can they demean a moment
that is so full of emotions and sacredness? Our thoughtlessness and
superficiality in the presence of this mystery is stupid. In the
presence of death, we should keep silence, recollect ourselves, pray,
and turn to God so as to try to enter into the great divine mystery in
which the departed person now finds himself. Death is not easy. Your
book Un temps pour mourir: Derniers jours de la vie des moines¹ shows
this very well. Man wants to drive death away, eliminate mourning. He
no longer tolerates sadness and tears.
Suffering, whether interior or
physical, no longer has a legitimate place. It is necessary to hide the
handicapped, forget the sick, and warehouse the elderly. Old age is no
fun. Therefore it must be hidden behind the gloomy walls of retirement
homes.
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: Cardinal Robert Sarah: “God’s first language is silence.”
In commenting on this beautiful, rich insight of Saint John of the
Cross, Thomas Keating, in his work Invitation to Love, writes:
“Everything else is a poor translation. In order to understand this
language, we must learn to be silent and to rest in God.”
It is time to rediscover the true order of priorities. It is time to
put God back at the center of our concerns, at the center of our
actions and of our life: the only place that He should occupy. Thus,
our Christian journey will be able to gravitate around this Rock, take
shape in the light of the faith and be nourished in prayer, which is a
moment of silent, intimate encounter in which a human being stands face
to face with God to adore Him and to express his filial love for Him.
Let us not fool ourselves. This is the truly urgent thing: to
rediscover the sense of God. Now the Father allows Himself to be
approached only in silence. What the Church needs most today is not an
administrative reform, another pastoral program, a structural change.
The program already exists: it is the one we have always had, drawn
from the Gospel and from living Tradition. It is centered on Christ
Himself, whom we must know, love and imitate in order to live in Him
and through Him, to transform our world which is being degraded because
human beings live as though God did not exist. As a priest, as a
pastor, as a Prefect, as a Cardinal, my priority is to say that God
alone can satisfy the human heart.
I think that we are the victims of the superficiality, selfishness and
worldly spirit that are spread by our media-driven society. We get lost
in struggles for influence, in conflicts between persons, in a
narcissistic, vain activism. We swell with pride and pretention,
prisoners of a will to power. For the sake of titles, professional or
ecclesiastical duties, we accept vile compromises. But all that passes
away like smoke. In my new book I wanted to invite Christians and
people of good will to enter into silence; without it, we are in
illusion. The only reality that deserves our attention is God Himself,
and God is silent. He waits for our silence to reveal Himself.
Regaining the sense of silence is therefore a priority, an urgent necessity.
ANTONIO CARDINAL BACCI: The Voice of God
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
46. A hermit said, 'Satan has three
powers, which lead to all the sins. The first is forgetfulness, the
second negligence, the third selfish desire. If forgetfulness comes, it
causes negligence, negligence is the mother of selfish desire, and by
selfish desire we fall. If the mind is serious, it repels
forgetfulness, negligence does not come, selfish desire finds no entry,
and so with the help of Christ we shall never fall.'
July 16, 2024
(Psa 18:30-31) This
God-his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a
shield for all those who take refuge in him. For who is God, but the
Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?-
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YOUTUBE: Online Lessons w Fr. Iannuzzi- Trump Attempted Assassination & Prophecy of Chastisements
ERIC SALMONS ON X: Does the death of an innocent bystander invalidate the belief that divine intervention saved Trump?
I've seen many
people, including many Christians, recoil at the suggestion that divine
intervention prevented Trump's death, citing the death of Corey
Comperatore.
This displays a misguided view of God and His sovereignty in multiple ways.
First, we must remember that God
has a different standard than man when it comes to life and death. God
is the Author of Life, and therefore does not have to abide by our
rules when it comes to life and death. As He has given each of us life,
He can take it away (or allow it to be taken away) whenever He chooses.
None of us created our own life or
created another life. Further, each of us deserve death the moment we
are conceived. So every moment of life is a gift from God. To suggest
someone has a claim over God to a longer life is ludicrous.
Here's the analogy I often used
with my younger children. If I create a painting, I have every right to
do whatever I want with it. I can destroy it if I desire, or frame it
and hang it up in the house. However, no one else has that right over
my painting. You can't just grab my painting and throw it away, even
though I can. You are not the author of that painting. We are not the
author of our life or any other life.
So the length of our life is completely in God's hands, and He can make it as short or as long as He desires.
Second, we must remember that death
is not the ultimate evil. In fact, death can be a way to glorify God.
Consider the martyrs. God could have let every one of them live a long
life and die peacefully surrounded by family. Instead God allowed them
to die, often in horrific and brutal ways. Why? Because their deaths
glorified God and led more people to Him.
I'm not saying Mr. Comperatore was
a martyr. I am instead saying that God can allow a death for many
reasons, just as He can allow someone to live for many reasons. It all
falls in the providence of God.
So it is not inconsistent—in fact
it is Christian—to say both that God allowed Trump to live and allowed
Mr. Comperatore to die. He does this every day with each one of us—some
of us He allows to live and some of us He allows to die.
What matters is what we do with the life—and the death—He gives us. Do we glorify Him at every moment?
Mr. Comperatore gave us an example
of heroic fatherhood in his last moments; we pray that he might be an
example to us, and that he might now be united with God in eternity. We
also pray that President Trump will use the extra time he has been
given in this life to glorify God (while recognizing he has free will
to follow or reject God's plan for his life).
I believe divine intervention saved
President Trump, while also recognizing that God allowed the death of
Mr. Comperatore. Both beliefs are consistent with the Christian belief
in divine providence.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
44. They said of a hermit that his
thoughts suggested to him, 'Rest today; do penance tomorrow.' He
contradicted the thoughts, saying, 'No, I do penance today, and
tomorrow the Lord's will be done.'
July 15, 2024
(1Ti 2:1-2) I
desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers,
intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men: For kings and for
all that are in high station: that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable
life in all piety and chastity.
SHIELD OF FAITH: Love is the measure of our ability to bear crosses
CNA: Catholic leaders react to Trump shooting: ‘Our country needs God’
NEWSMAX: Melania Trump: 'Let Us Reunite'
"Let us not forget that differing
opinions, policy, and political games are inferior to love. Our
personal, structural, and life commitment — until death — is at serious
risk. Political concepts are simple when compared to us, human beings.
We are all humans, and
fundamentally, instinctively, we want to help one another. American
politics are only one vehicle that can uplift our communities. Love,
compassion, kindness and empathy are necessities.
And let us remember that when the
time comes to look beyond the left and the right, beyond the red and
the blue, we all come from families with the passion to fight for a
better life together, while we are here, in this earthly realm.
Dawn is here again. Let us reunite. Now.
This morning, ascend above the
hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence. We
all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love
transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to
get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our
relationships, again".
GOODREADS: After a failed assassination attempt on his life, Ronald Reagan penned the following in his diary on March 31, 1981:
“Getting shot
hurts. Still my fear was growing because no matter how hard I tried to
breath it seemed I was getting less & less air. I focused on that
tiled ceiling and prayed. But I realized I couldn't ask for Gods help
while at the same time I felt hatred for the mixed up young man who had
shot me. Isn't that the meaning of the lost sheep? We are all Gods
children & therefore equally beloved by him. I began to pray for
his soul and that he would find his way back to the fold.”
NEWS REPORT: Daughter of Trump rally victim's gut-wrenching tribute to heroic dad who dove on family to protect them
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
43. A brother said to a hermit, 'I
don't find any disturbance in my heart.' The hermit said, 'You are like
a door swinging open. Anyone who likes can go inside, and come out
again, and you don't notice what is happening. If you had a door that
was shut you wouldn't let wicked thoughts come in, and then you would
see them standing outside the door and fighting against you.'
July 12, 2024
(2Co 12:9-10) And
he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee: for power is made
perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may dwell in me. For which cause I please
myself in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in
persecutions, in distresses, for Christ. For when I am weak, then am I
powerful.
YOUTUBE: The Bible in 10 Minutes (feat. Fr. Mike Schmitz)
CHURCHPOP: The Powerful Prayers Catholics Should Never Forget in Spiritual Warfare
ANTONIO CARDINAL BACCI: The Enemies of the Soul
1. It is Christian teaching that we have three enemies which are a
constant threat to our salvation. The first is the devil, an invisible
but very powerful foe.
The devil was once an angel of beauty. He had gifts superior to those
of men and was in a state of happiness. But God required from him a
proof of his fidelity before he could merit the everlasting reward for
which he had been destined.
Lucifer was proud of his beauty and power. Believing that he was equal
to the Most High God, he rebelled against his Creator and drew with him
into eternal ruin innumerable bands of disloyal angels. Their sin was
greater than ours because they had been endowed with a superior
intellect and their will was not subject to the pull of the sensitive
appetites of a material body. This is why God did not give them time to
repent but condemned them immediately to the everlasting torments of
Hell. It is false to imagine, however, that they are confined as it
were, in one place. Being pure spirits, they can with God's permission
wander throughout the world, carrying their hell within themselves.
Moreover, they can endanger in a thousand ways our eternal salvation.
The Gospel often speaks of diabolical temptations and obsessions, and
St. Peter warns us to be continually on our guard against the
onslaughts of the enemy. “Be sober,” he says, “be watchful! For your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking someone to
devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same
suffering befalls your brethren all over the world.” (1 Peter 5:8)
It is the same now as it was in the time of Jesus and His Apostles.
We do not see this infernal spirit, but we feel his presence. Let us
remember what St. Augustine wrote about him. “The devil,” he said, “is
a mastiff in chains. He can bark, but he cannot bite unless we yield to
his evil suggestions and approach him. Watch and pray.”
2. The second enemy is the world. There are so many beautiful things
around us, reflecting the power and the goodness of God. These should
be an invitation to us to love their Creator, and a spiritual ladder
which leads us towards Him. Unfortunately, we often go astray in the
midst of the passing beauty of this world. Often we set our hearts upon
this beauty, our hearts which should belong wholly to God and which can
find peace and happiness in Him alone. Sometimes worldly objects
deceive the senses and ensnare the will. Riches, pleasures, and honours
attract us and we fail to remember that everything on earth passes like
a shadow and that when we shall stand before the judgment seat of God,
only our good works will accompany us.
3. Our most terrible enemy, however, is in ourselves - our body, which
by sinning can rebel against the soul and against God. “The flesh lusts
against the spirit,” says St. Paul, “and the spirit against the flesh.”
(Gal. 5:17) Although he had reached the highest peak of sanctity, Paul
still complained of the temptations of the flesh, which continued to
buffet his soul like messengers of Satan. (2 Cor. 12:7)
We experience carnal urges far more strongly than he did. We should
resist them by faith and by prayer, keeping close to Almighty God. It
is fatal to lay down our arms, for the flesh with its evil designs will
seize its advantage and become the relentless tyrant of the soul. Then,
under the guise of satisfying our desires, it will make us unhappy in
this life and will condemn us forever in the next.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
42. A hermit said, 'No one can harm
the man at the emperor's side; Satan cannot harm us if we keep
ourselves close to God, as it is written, "Draw nigh to me, and I shall
draw nigh unto you" (Zech. 1:3). But because we are so often puffed up
with pride, it is easy for the enemy to snatch away our wretched soul
to carnal passion and disgrace.'
July 11, 2024
(Jer 17:5) Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
CRISIS MAGAZINE EDITORIAL: The Excommunication of Archbishop Viganò
DICASTERY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH: Press
Release About the Conclusion of the Extrajudicial Penal Process Against
His Excellency, the Most Rev. Carlo Maria Viganò (5 July 2024)
On 4 July 2024, the Congress of the
Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith met to conclude the
extrajudicial penal process referred to in canon 1720 CIC against the
Most Reverend Carlo Maria Viganò, titular Archbishop of Ulpiana,
accused of the reserved delict of schism (canons 751 and 1364 CIC; art.
2 SST).
His public statements manifesting
his refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his
rejection of communion with the members of the Church subject to him,
and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican
Ecumenical Council are well known.
At the conclusion of the penal process, the Most Reverend Carlo Maria Viganò was found guilty of the reserved delict of schism.
The Dicastery declared the latae sententiae excommunication in accordance with canon 1364 § 1 CIC.
The lifting of the censure in these cases is reserved to the Apostolic See.
This decision was communicated to the Most Reverend Viganò on 5 July 2024.
RELATED COMMENTARY
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
40. A hermit said, 'If you lose
gold or silver, you can find something as good as you lost. But the man
who loses time can never make up what he has lost.''
July 9, 2024
(Luk 21:36) Watch
ye, therefore, praying at all times, that you may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things that are to come and to stand before the Son
of man.
YOUTUBE: WW3 HAS BEGUN?? - Fr. Mark Goring, CC
FOX NEWS: Russian missiles hit children's hospital in Kyiv as Ukrainian President Zelenskyy vows retaliation
THE TIMES OF ISRAEL: Gaza City residents say they are seeing some of heaviest fighting since start of war
THE ECONOMIST: The next terrifying war: Israel v Hizbullah
It would feature kamikaze drones, mass blackouts and the largest missile barrage in history
A war is looming in Lebanon. For
months Israel and Hizbullah, an Iranian-armed Shia militia, have traded
drones, rockets and missiles (see charts). Northern Israel has been
blasted and depopulated: 70,000 people have been displaced. More have
left southern Lebanon. On July 3rd Israel killed a senior Hizbullah
commander; the group responded with a heavy rocket barrage. Several
countries, including America, are telling their citizens to leave
Lebanon. Israel’s leaders talk of war as though it is inevitable. It
would be the most intense conflict in the region in decades—a calamity
for Israel and a disaster for Lebanon.
There are still ways out. American
and European diplomats continue to shuttle between Israel and Lebanon,
hoping, with less and less optimism, to get Hizbullah to withdraw
7-10km away from the border. On July 2nd the group said it would stop
firing if there was a truce in Gaza. Even then, the result would be a
tenuous peace, with the threat of cross-border raids by Hizbullah
dissuading many Israelis from returning.
NEWS REPORT: American seriously wounded when Hezbollah fires 20-rocket barrage at Israel
VIA Signs & Wonders for Our Times:
"As the prophetess of our age, Our Lady said, 'God wishes to establish
in the world a devotion to my Immaculate Heart as the last means for
salvation.' She says it is a four-point change for mankind:
- Go back to God as the answer for the ills of mankind
- Convert to an idealogical and lifestyle change, consistent with faith and morals
- Awaken to the fact that Jesus alone is the solution, and
- Live the Gospel and put faith into action, no matter your profession or locale
This is her plan, and she has said
repeatedly over the years she needs our cooperation to carry out her
plan. Each word is very emotive and requires the individual to change
their focus on how they live.
Her battle plan is a simple one: to live the faith. People need to pray
more, fast, recite the Rosary, go to confession more frequently, go to
daily Mass, if possible, read the Scriptures, be a part of a community
prayer group, and spend time in Adoration."
At Medjugorje, Our Lady said, "Let Holy Mass be the center of your life."
The corruption of the world and its apostasy is being exposed for all
to see precisely. This is surely a part of Our Lady's plan that is not
yet visible, but discernible for the next step in the process of
heaven's direct intervention.
Satan is using every means available to enslave man, but [Our Lady] has
a plan greater for mankind to prevail. Whether we want to call it the
Great Divine Reset is not known, but it will be her victory and it will
be seen only in retrospect, and we will then see its glorious genius."
Suffice it to say that it appears we are at a critical point in our
world with Our Lady coming to us to ask our cooperation in her plan for
salvation.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
39. A hermit said, 'A monk ought to
examine himself every day morning and evening, to check how far he has
kept the Lord's will. He ought to be leading a penitential life all his
days. That was the way Arsenius lived.'
July 3, 2024
(Psa 46:10) Be still and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.
CERC: Be still
ANTONIO CARDINAL BACCI: Moments of Silence
1. Such is the speed of modern life that many people forget God and do
not even pause to think about themselves. Action is everything. There
is no time for reflection, no time for prayer. Life has become
mechanical and superficial, for nobody has the time nor the inclination
to think about spiritual matters.
What is the result? Since men are not machines but living beings
composed of soul and body, and are capable of feeling and of passion,
their lower inclinations break loose and insist on being satisfied. In
the absence of prayer and of all effort to lead a good life, grace is
lacking to inspire the mind, to strengthen the will and to keep the
heart pure. Rapid materialistic progress has accustomed men to accept
as inevitable the most shameful falls. The absence of any kind of
contact with God makes the soul the slave of sin.
Examine yourself. Perhaps you have not yet sunk to this low level of
spirituality and are still capable of feeling remorse and the urge to
do good. But you must listen for God's voice, and a certain amount of
silence is necessary if His voice is not to be drowned in the tumult of
the world. We are in real need of solitude, recollection and prayer.
2. Even though the Apostles lived in times which were very different
from ours, they were asked by our divine Master to spend a little time
in solitude and recollection. They had been sent by Jesus to preach in
the villages of Palestine and had been successful in their mission.
When they returned they told our divine Redeemer with some satisfaction
what they had accomplished in His name and with His grace. They may
have been inclined to boast a little, and it is quite certain that they
had become spiritually dissipated as a result of their work. So Jesus
said to them: “Come apart into a desert place and rest a while.” (Mark
6:21; Mt. 14:13; Luke 9:10; John 6:1)
We must take this advice also, for a certain amount of silence and
recollection is absolutely essential. We should go on retreat every
year and set aside one day every month for the same purpose. We need to
spend at least a quarter of an hour every day in meditation, if
possible a quarter of an hour in conversation with Jesus in the Blessed
Eucharist or, if we cannot do any better, an interval of prayer in some
other secluded place. If we have not been doing at least this much, let
us make sure to do so in future.
3. Solitude and recollection will make our lives more peaceful and more
purposeful and will enable us to co-operate with God's grace by
striving to become more perfect. “Be renewed in the spirit of your
mind,” says St. Paul, “and put on the new man, which has been created
according to God in justice and in holiness.” (Eph. 4:23-24)
The turmoil of a purely external life leads to hardness of heart,
tepidity and sin. Recollection and prayer place us in contact with God,
Who will give us the grace to lead holy lives.
CARDINAL ROBERT SARAH:
"When we are lovers, we always notice the slightest gesture of the one
whom we love. It is the same with prayer. If we are accustomed to
praying often, we can grasp the meaning of God's silence. There are
signs that only two fiancés can understand. The person of prayer is
also the only one to grasp the silent signs of affection that God sends
him".
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
38. One hermit visited another
hermit and said during their conversation, 'I'm dead to the world.' The
other said, 'Don't be so confident until you have actually died. You
may say about yourself that you are dead, but Satan is not dead.'
July 1, 2024
(Mat 16:18-19) And
I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will
give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou
shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever
thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
CATHOLIC STAND: True Ecumenism Leads To The One, True, Holy Catholic Church
THE DAILY KNIGHT: The Masonic Plan to Destroy the Catholic Church with Ecumenism
X:
Catholic convert and former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II (as well
Eternal Christendom Advisory Board member), @gavinashenden, perfectly
describes the mindset of what he calls “Ecumaniacs”:
“A common fantasy for living in a world of unreality where nobody pays the price for anything.”
This perfectly describes how many converts see those (on both sides)
who so often try to obscure the differences between non-Catholic sects
and the Catholic Church, or pretend dogmatic contradictions can
co-exist. Where is truth? Either something is true, or it isn’t. You
can’t have your cake and eat it too. Either Christ established one
Church and promised to be with Her until His return, or He didn’t. It’s
either the Catholic Church, or it isn’t.
Make up your mind.
This effeminate attempt to pretend 2 and 2 can actually make something
other than 4 is an affront to the harsh and unrelenting demands of
Truth, who commands us: “Take up your cross and follow me…He who does
not take up his cross and follow me IS NOT WORTHY OF ME.”
He doesn’t command us to be constantly groping for this
hermaphroditical excluded middle with no cross, or a less hard cross,
or a nice cross, that doesn’t exist except in weak imaginations.
The true cross includes being part of the one family He established. He
requires us to maintain the unity of that family to be saved, as He so
plainly states, and as Christians have believed from the beginning.
It’s a command because it is hard. It’s oftentimes not pleasant. The
family often has lots of dysfunction going on. Children can be brats.
Fathers can be weak and abusive. Family members can be obnoxious,
degenerate, and lukewarm. But they can also be saintly and holy beyond
all worldly comprehension.
You take the good with the bad. You don’t get to choose who God’s
family is, who your siblings are, or who your fathers are. Those are
given to you. You choose to accept them or not, confident in Christ’s
promises to the family, and to its kingdom. You take up the cross of
God’s family—and thereby save your soul—or you don’t.
For those animated by love and humility—which requires a willingness to
suffer, including the suffering of doubt—all family circumstances, good
and bad, will conduce to their salvation.
As St. Augustine so often observed, those objectively heretical and
schismatic people who remain aloof from the Catholic Church so often do
so “that they might be righteous, that they might not have the ungodly
with them” (Exposition of Psalm 120).
But that’s not an option God left us. The Master had Judas—and yes,
even a Peter who was sometimes weak and cowardly. We are not greater
than the Master.
Take up the cross, or don’t. Endure the suffering, or don’t. But for
God’s sake, and the sake of your soul, stop pretending a third option
is available.
Jesus is Lord, Liar, or Lunatic. It stands to reason the Church He founded presents us with the same options.
The Catholic Church, the fullness of His Body, does just that: it is
true, it is false, or it is crazy (another species of false). There is
no middle option.
God forgive those shepherds on all sides who have preferred pleasant
conversations over tea and crumpets in a world of unreality to—as Gavin
says—paying the price of following the Truth, and calling all sheep to
do the same.
Eternity is on the line.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Sober Living
36. He also said, 'The life of a monk should be like that of the angels, all fire to burn up sin.'
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