Keep
your eyes open!...
June 30, 2015
(Mat 10:32-34) Every
one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him
before my Father who is in heaven. But he that shall deny me before
men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven. Do not
think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace,
but the sword.
AMERICAN CATHOLIC: PopeWatch: Fatima
Q. There is a prophecy by Sister Lucia dos Santos, of Fatima, which
concerns “the final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan”.
The battlefield is the family. Life and the family. We know that you
were given charge by John Paul II to plan and establish the Pontifical
Institute for the Studies on Marriage and the Family.
Cardinal Carlo Caffara : Yes, I was. At the start of this work entrusted to me by the Servant of
God John Paul II, I wrote to Sister Lucia of Fatima through her Bishop
as I couldn’t do so directly. Unexplainably however, since I didn’t
expect an answer, seeing that I had only asked for prayers, I received
a very long letter with her signature – now in the Institute’s
archives. In it we find written: the final battle between the Lord and
the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family. Don’t be
afraid, she added, because anyone who operates for the sanctity of
marriage and the family will always be contended and opposed in every
way, because this is the decisive issue.
And then she concluded: however, Our Lady has already crushed its head.
EXCERPT CRISIS MAGAZINE: The “Benedict Option” and the Barbarian Challenge
There can be no doubt that we live in a neo-barbarian world inside a
culture of death. Today’s tattooed and wired neo-barbarians are
likewise aggressive. They also redistribute the wealth, albeit
through taxes and entitlements. They do not live and let live, but
insist that all approve their disordered lifestyles. Indeed, it is the
very brutality of the neo-barbarian mandate that impels those
considering the Benedictine option to flee.
The lessons of history are particularly expressive regarding the
triumph of barbarians. Vikings, Huns, Goths, Moors and communists all
devastated the tranquility of even the most isolated of organic
societies. There is no escaping. There is a kind of impossible
co-existence between barbarian and villager. Thus, in our case, the
B-challenge can only consist in confronting the brutal neo-barbarians
at the gates.
That is not to say that Benedict loses his validity as an option. After
all, the core of what is to be defended and gives meaning to life is
found inside his liturgical framework turned toward the worship of God.
But Benedict must be defended against the ravages of the barbarian. The
barbarian must be fearlessly confronted, contested, fought against,
defeated … and converted.
To the efficacious prayer of Benedict must be added the zealous action
of a Boniface, apostle of Germany. He did not dialogue with the
barbarians, but chopped down the great oak tree that they worshiped as
their god, and brought them to the knowledge of the true Faith. To
Boniface can be added legions of saints like Patrick in Ireland or
Remigius in France, all of who overcame the barbarian and secured
Benedict’s peace.
It would be wrong to assume that Boniface plays only a temporary role
inside a B-option. Successive waves of barbarians followed after
Boniface’s triumph. Saintly kings, knights and crusaders rose to the
occasion to engage and defeat them. Even our modern times saw the need
to defend the West from yesterday’s Nazi and communist brutes and
today’s Islamic beheading savages.
In this vale of tears, we must be continually engaged in the fight for
order since there will always be those who oppose God’s law and
undermine the family, marriage, and all those other institutions that
make up the heart and soul of an economy, a culture and the Christian
village. There will always be those who never live and let live and
will seek us out.
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FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA
Reader: Personally speaking I am happy about the prospect of
having the tax deduction taken away. Any problem you can solve by
paying money - you got off cheap - especially when it comes to giving
an account to God.
Keeping this tax deduction has cost us too much already - in terms of compromising our speech and hence our core values.
I think the youth especially would
be attracted to the church if we made a clear stand and said - like
Jesus - render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's (money) - and render unto
God what is God's (the truth).
The Church too long has tried to replace a backbone - with a wishbone.
We need to get a backbone !
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
15. Evagrius said, 'To go against self is the beginning of salvation.'
June 19, 2015
THE TRIB TIMES WILL
RETURN IN TWO WEEKS, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
The Canticle of Brother Sun
Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and you give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
POPE FRANCIS:
“My appeal is, therefore, to responsibility, based on the task that God
has given to man in creation: ‘to till and tend’ the ‘garden’ in which
humanity has been placed (cf. Gen 2:15). I invite everyone to accept
with open hearts this document, which places itself in the line of the
Church's social doctrine.”
NEWS.VA: Overview of the Encyclical Laudato si'
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT ANALYSIS: "Laudato Si" focuses on the heart of man and the disorders of our age
The central thesis is that the fallen nature of the human heart and the
resulting brokenness of human relations is the cause of the crises in
our lives, families, nations, and now the life-sustaining ecosystems
that form our common home
COMMENTARIES
LIFESITE: Pope Francis’ leaked encyclical: the good and the bad
NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER: Laudato Si: The Cheers and the Challenges
ACTION INSTITUTE: Unholy Alliance: Who is Advising Pope Francis on Global Warming?
COMPREHENSIVE REVIW: ACTION INSTITUTE: Pope Francis and the environment
EXCERPT CRISIS MAGAZINE: Mixing Up the Sciences of Heaven and Earth by Fr. George W. Rutler
Pope Francis’ encyclical on the ecology of the earth is adventurously
laden with promise and peril. It can raise consciousness of humans as
stewards of creation. However, there is a double danger in using it as
an economic text or scientific thesis. One of the pope’s close
advisors, the hortatory Cardinal Maradiaga of Honduras said with
ill-tempered diction: “The ideology surrounding environmental issues is
too tied to a capitalism that doesn’t want to stop ruining the
environment because they don’t want to give up their profits.” From the
empirical side, to prevent the disdain of more informed scientists
generations from now, papal teaching must be safeguarded from attempts
to exploit it as an endorsement of one hypothesis over another
concerning anthropogenic causes of climate change. It is not incumbent
upon a Catholic to believe, like Rex Mottram in Brideshead Revisited,
that a pope can perfectly predict the weather. As a layman in these
matters, all I know about climate change is that I have to pay for
heating a very big church with an unpredictable apparatus. This is
God’s house, but he sends me the ConEd utility bills.
It is noteworthy that Pope Francis would have included in an
encyclical, instead of lesser teaching forms such as an apostolic
constitution or motu proprio, subjects that still pertain to unsettled
science (and to speak of a “consensus” allows that there is not yet a
defined absolute). The Second Vatican Council, as does Pope Francis,
makes clear that there is no claim to infallibility in such teaching.
The Council (Lumen Gentium, n.25) does say that even the “ordinary
Magisterium” is worthy of a “religious submission of intellect and
will” but such condign assent is not clearly defined. It does not help
when a prominent university professor of solid Catholic commitments
says that in the encyclical “we are about to hear the voice of Peter.”
That voice may be better heard when, following the advice of the
encyclical (n.55) people turn down their air conditioners. One awaits
the official Latin text to learn its neologism for “condizione d’aria.”
While the Holy Father has spoken eloquently about the present genocide
of Christians in the Middle East, those who calculate priorities would
have hoped for an encyclical about this fierce persecution, surpassing
that of the emperor Decius. Pictures of martyrs being beheaded,
gingerly filed away by the media, give the impression that their last
concern on earth was not climate fluctuations.
Saint Peter, from his fishing days, had enough hydrometeorology to know
that he could not walk on water. Then the eternal Logos told him to do
it, and he did, until he mixed up the sciences of heaven and earth and
began to sink. As vicars of that Logos, popes speak infallibly only on
faith and morals. They also have the prophetic duty to correct anyone
who, for the propagation of their particular interests, imputes virtual
infallibility to papal commentary on physical science while ignoring
genuinely infallible teaching on contraception, abortion and marriage
and the mysteries of the Lord of the Universe. At this moment, we have
the paradoxical situation in which an animated, and even frenzied,
secular chorus hails papal teaching as infallible, almost as if it
could divide the world, provided it does NOT involve faith or morals.
CRISIS MAGAZINE: Leaked Laudato Lamented
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
6. They said of Arsenius that while he was in the Emperor's palace he
was the best-dressed person there and while he was leading the life of
a monk, no one was clothed in worse rags.'
June 17, 2015
(Mat 6:33-34) Seek
ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these
things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for to
morrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for
the day is the evil thereof.
VATICAN NEWS:
To be free of worldly passion, Pope Francis said, we must have a humble
heart which rejects all conflicts and battles. This is the noise of the
pagan world and the noise of the devil, he said, but our hearts must be
at peace if we want to bear witness to our faith without scandal or
criticism. Returning to the words of St Paul, the Pope stressed we must
keep our hearts ready for God through all “endurance, afflictions,
hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils,
fasts”.
BLOG: Worried About the Future?
RON ROLHEISER, OMI: Living in a Moral Diaspora
In an autobiographical novel entitled, My First Loves, Ivan Klima, a
Czech writer, talks about a pain he endured as a young man. Growing up
without religious training and living amidst a group of young men and
women who weren’t much inclined towards sexual and other restraints, he
sometimes found himself very much alone and isolated in terms of his
feelings. For reasons he couldn’t explain, and which certainly weren’t
religious, he, unlike his friends, simply couldn’t give himself over to
certain forms of youthful revelry. His conscience was reticent and he
was haunted by a feeling that solitude should be carried at some high
level.
And all this came on him as a loneliness, as a painful feeling that he
was somehow out-of-step with others, a misfit, unanimity-minus-one, a
cog out of sync with a contented world, a frigidity within lake of
freedom. His refusal to give in to various things, when his friends
were less willing to carry tension, left him aching in a curious way,
lonely for moral companionship, for someone to sleep with in terms of
his reticence. He sensed that there were others like himself out there,
kindred spirits, soulmates, whom he needed to find in order to
alleviate his pain. He states the pain as simple fact, but underneath
there’s a search for moral companionship. (What is any book besides a
note in bottle tossed out to sea in hopes of finding someone who thinks
like you?)
The pain that Klima articulates is a pain that is more-and-more felt
today by anyone who has strong faith and deep moral convictions.
Increasingly, to believe in God, is to find yourself within a moral
diaspora, seemingly a minority-of-one, awash in a world that, while
wonderful in so many other ways, is non-supportive in terms of what’s
deepest and most important to you. To carry real faith and moral
conviction today is to feel yourself part of a cognitive minority, a
deviant of sorts, isolated, morally lonely.
What is moral loneliness? It’s the pain of feeling alone in one’s
deepest beliefs. There are various types of loneliness, but this
inconsummation is perhaps the most searing. Painful as it is to not
have a sexual partner, it is even more painful not to have a moral one.
More deeply than we ache to sleep with others sexually, we ache to
sleep with them morally. What exactly does this mean?
Inside each of us there is a moral centre, a place where all that is
most precious in us is rooted. It’s this centre we call our truest
self. It’s here we guard what’s sacred to us and it’s here we feel most
violated when someone either enters irreverently or doesn’t properly
honour what we hold there. It’s here that we feel most vulnerable. It’s
this centre too that keeps us from falling apart. If this spot is
violated in a significant way, through major betrayal, sexual abuse, or
other such soul-searing experience, the soul begins to unravel and we
have the sensation of falling apart. Our moral centre is the glue that
holds the soul together.
And what nurtures this centre is moral companionship, the sense of
having found a soulmate. Sometimes we misunderstand this simply as
sexual, as a longing that can be assuaged through sexual union, but
it’s more. Sex only does its healing if its embrace caresses our moral
centre and honours it. Deep down, we know that. For example, when
Thomas Moore released the book, SOULMATES, a few years back, it’s title
held such a powerful attraction precisely because it intimates that
real intimacy has a moral centre that goes deeper than even emotion and
sex and is more properly spoken of in terms of soul and destiny.
All of this has an important faith and ecclesial dimension. Today, at
least in the Western world, we live in a moral diaspora. More and more
people are finding that their faith and moral convictions are not
shared by their families, their friends, their colleagues, the arts,
the mainstream media, the popular ethos of the culture, and sometimes
even their own spouses. In what’s most precious to them, many people
today are very much alone, lonely, forced to look outside their own
families and circles for the companionship and support for which they
ache. Moral diaspora makes for more loneliness.
What’s to be done? Among other things, people of faith need more to
seek each other; mystically, within the body of Christ, and
practically, within supportive ecclesial communities. Small,
intentional, faith communities, operating outside the regular ecclesial
structures, can too be part of the answer.
Moreover scripture points to still another answer: When Jesus, Paul,
Stephen, and others felt lonely and isolated in their faith, when they
had a reticence that others couldn’t understand, they “looked upward,
towards heaven”. It brought peace, even when they faced persecution,
stoning, or death because of their beliefs. They looked to God and
trusted. I think that’s called prayer.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
5. Some demons once came near Arsenius in his cell, and they were
troubling him. The same brothers who usually ministered to him
arrived. As they stood outside the cell, they heard him crying
aloud to the Lord, 'Lord do not leave me, though I have done nothing
good in your sight. Grant me, Lord, by your loving kindness, to
make at least the first beginnings of good.'
June 15, 2015
(Mat 24:6-8) And
you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not
troubled. For these things must come to pass: but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And
there shall be pestilences and famines and earthquakes in places. Now
all these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LEBANON'S MARONITE CATHOLIC PATRIARCH CARDINAL BECHARA RAI:
“We condemn injustice, the death of the world’s conscience and all
those who provide arms and money for sabotage, destruction, killing and
displacement.”
ACN NEWS: Syrian Christians are caught in 'demonic conflict'
ASIANEWS.IT: Patriarchs met in Damascus to give courage and hope to a restless people
VIA STRATFOR: Tartus, the Mother of Martyrs
Editor's Note: This first-hand account was written by a Stratfor correspondent in the Middle East.
Tartus is Syria's second largest port city, overshadowed only by
Latakia. Located on the country's coastal plain, both sit within the
Alawite minority's geographic core. Originally known as the
"Nusayris," the Alawites became established along the Mediterranean
coast under the Shiite Hamdanid dynasty. With the fall of this dynasty,
however, they became an embattled minority, persecuted by Christian
crusaders, the Sunni Mamluk Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire in turn.
The French colonial regime favored the Alawites in order to balance
power against the majority Sunnis and their Ottoman backers. Following
independence, this privileged position made the Alawites a target of
reprisals from the new government. By the 1960s, however, the Alawites
had regained influence because of their presence in the military and
their support for the Baathist movement. In 1971, after a tumultuous
period of coups and counter-coups, Defense Minister Hafez al Assad
gained control of the government. The Alawite general remained in power
until 2000 and was succeeded by his son, Bashar al Assad.
Today, the city of Tartus is gloomy. Syria is four years into a vicious
civil war. Bashar al Assad's government has managed to survive but is
locked in an existential battle with a host of rebel forces, including
the Islamic State. Again and again the government has been forced to
retrench to protect its core around the Alawite coast and the capital
of Damascus. The heady period of unchallenged Alawite ascendance has
come to a murky end.
In the early days of the 2011 uprising against al Assad's rule, the
Alawites of Tartus came out into the streets to defend him, chanting
"Al Assad! Or we set the country on fire!" If al Assad did not remain
president, his Alawite supporters promised to rise up to destroy the
country themselves. Now a host of rebel groups threaten the al Assad
regime. Although the government holds on, the Alawites' threat to
destroy the country now rings hollow.
After four years of disastrous conflict, the Alawites of Tartus are
frustrated and suffering from staggering human losses. More than 70,000
young Alawite soldiers have been killed and 120,000 others wounded.
Another 10,000 are unaccounted for. These figures do not even include
Tartus' non-Alawite loyalist troops. Tartus is now known as the "mother
of martyrs." One-third of all loyalist casualties come from the city,
where posters of fallen soldiers are everywhere.
Within the city, there is a growing perception that President Bashar al
Assad is intent on staying in power no matter how many Alawite deaths
it takes. The Alawaites, who in 2011 trumpeted their support for al
Assad, now threaten him with a different chant altogether: "God
willing, we will witness the funeral of your sons," they say.
The Alawites also feel abandoned by other minority groups who do not
seem willing to send their young men to fight and die. This is
important — throughout Syria's history, minority groups have contended
with the majority Sunni population, which makes up around three-fourths
of the population. Again and again in battles against the rebels, the
Druze, Christians, Ismailis and Shiites of Syria's National
Defense Militias have fled. The Alawite regulars feel like they are
fighting and dying alone.
In Tartus, funerals for the succession of fallen soldiers have turned
into processions of rage. Tartus receives at least 20 dead bodies each
day. During times of more intense fighting, this number often rises to
over 80. The regime, fearing that each of these deaths could cause
massive uproar, does not allow hospitals to release more than five of
the corpses to families each day. The process is painfully slow: Only
after one family has received the remains of their relative and left
the hospital can the next family enter. Families often wait 10 days to
retrieve a body.
In the midst of such bloodshed, many Alawites have come to the
conclusion that the regime cannot win the war. One person told me, "Our
regime has failed. Its erratic policies made it possible for the
Islamic State to emerge." The turning point for them was the
regime's September 2014 defeat at Tabqa air base, where Islamic
State militants slaughtered hundreds of Alawite soldiers. The regime
failed to rescue them. Families no longer want their young men to take
part in what they see as a suicidal war. Young men flee to the
mountains or to Lebanon to avoid conscription. If they can, they flee
by sea to the Turkish city of Mersin, then try to enter the European
Union illegally. The regime is trying to replace its lost soldiers by
forcibly recruiting young men who are supposed to have exemption or
deferment from military service.
Although the people of Tartus continue to suffer and their sons
continue to die, it is only at the end of the war, whatever its
outcome, that the city's Alawites will really comprehend the full
extent of the catastrophe. For now, the situation is precarious. The
Syrian opposition has thus far failed to address the status that the
Alawite community would hold in a post-al Assad Syria. Even if this
were clearly worked out, the Alawites cannot simply join the rebel Free
Syrian Army — the Sunnis do not trust them. And if Alawites quit
fighting for al Assad, the administration would surely crack down on
them. A threat from within his core territory is not something al Assad
can afford at the moment.
For the people of Tartus today, few options remain besides simply
carrying on as before. But every day, more bodies come in; every day
they must deal with the reality of their fragile position.
Tartus, the Mother of Martyrs is republished with permission of Stratfor.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
3. Antony also said, 'I saw the devil's snares set all over the earth,
and I groaned and said, "What can pass through them?" I heard a
voice saying "Humility."'
June 12, 2015
(Joh 19:34-35) But
one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side: and immediately there
came out blood and water. And he that saw it hath given testimony: and
his testimony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true: that you also
may believe.
ARCHBISHOP CHAPUT: What ‘renewing the Church’ really requires
VATICAN RADIO: Pope Francis speaks to the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
HEART TO HEART: A Mission to Encourage Personal Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
CATHOLIC HERALD: The Sacred Heart should be our rallying cry against secular society
The recent slew of feasts – Pentecost, Ascension, Trinity Sunday,
Corpus Christi, Ss Peter and Paul – has been a pleasant reminder to me
of the continuing fecundity of the Catholic tradition. And it comes to
a climax – at least this will be the last solemnity of the Lord until
we reach the end of the liturgical year with Christ the King – with the
Solemnity of the Sacred Heart today, the second Friday after Pentecost.
The Sacred Heart to me represents one of the most important feasts of
the year from a theological perspective. It is the feast of the flesh
that was taken up by the Son of God. It is thus the feast of love made
incarnate for us in the person of Our Lord. It is our way of
celebrating what made the people of the Holy Land so happy during the
earthly ministry of Jesus, namely, the presence of our loving Saviour
among us.
As for the iconography of the Sacred Heart, it is important to realise
that all crucifixes, in that they show the wounded side of Our Lord,
are images of His Sacred Heart laid bare out of love.
The liturgy of the solemnity is particularly theologically profound. Consider the Preface:
"Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give You thanks
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lifted high on the cross,
Christ gave His life for us,
so much did He love us.
From His wounded side flowed blood and water,
the fountain of sacramental life in the Church.
To His open heart the Saviour invites all men
to draw water in joy from the springs of salvation.
Now, with all the saints and angels,
we praise you for ever: Holy, holy, holy Lord…"
This has the merit of brevity and profundity. The Preface taken from
the Missal of 1962 is rather more florid, but perhaps even more
arresting. Here is an English translation of it, from a hand missal:
"It is truly meet and just, right and availing unto
salvation, that we should in all times and in all
places give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father
almighty, and everlasting God; who didst will that
Thine only begotten Son should be pierced by the
soldier’s lance as He hung upon the Cross: that from
His opened heart, as from a sanctuary of divine
bounty, might be poured out upon us streams of
mercy and grace; and that in His heart always
burning with love for us, the devout may find a haven
of rest, and the penitent a refuge of salvation. And
therefore with angels and archangels, with thrones
and dominions, and with all the heavenly hosts, we
sing a hymn to Thy glory, saying without ceasing:
Holy, Holy, Holy…"
There is far too much talk of God in the abstract, I find, these days,
especially from unbelievers. But God is never in the abstract. He is a
Person. Knowledge of God is best gleaned through the flesh of Jesus.
The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is a good reminder that we should not
let the enemies of religion set the agenda. They might want to talk
about a God whom they do not believe in, but who we do not recognise
either. We need to reply by talking about the God who is love, the
Incarnate Son. Interestingly the Catholics who have most resisted
deChristianisation – the brave folk of the Vendée and the Cristeros in
Mexico – all took the Sacred Heart as their rallying cry. So should we.
ALETEIA: Four Things the Sacred Heart Says Without Words
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
2. Antony said to Poemen, 'Our great work is to lay the blame for our
sins upon ourselves before God, and to expect to be tempted to our last
breath.'
June 11, 2015
(Mat 5:9) Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
NEWS: Pope calls for peace in Putin talks
Pope Francis has met privately with Russian president Vladimir Putin at
the Vatican, using the talks to call for a "sincere and great effort"
aimed at bringing peace to Ukraine. It was the men's second
meeting since Francis became pope in 2013.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said their talks
concentrated on the Ukraine conflict and the Middle East, where the
Holy See is worried about the fate of the Christian minority. Fr
Lombardi said Francis stressed the need to bring peace to Ukraine
through dialogue and implementation of the Minsk accords. The
pontiff also urged access for humanitarian aid.
CRUX ANALYSIS: Will Ukraine upset the odd-couple bond between Putin and the Pope?
EXCERPT: Putin’s Calculated Revival of the Russian Orthodox Church
Putin, who served in the KGB during the waning years of Communism when
atheism was state policy, has since embraced the church as a unifying
force in Russian society. He revealed in 2012 that he was
illicitly baptized as an infant, the rite performed in secret at the
behest of his mother and against the wishes of his staunchly Communist
father.
He has spoken very publicly about his Christian faith, with stories
sometimes tending toward the miraculous, such as one he tells about a
small aluminum cross, given to him by his mother that was recovered
from the ashes of a burnt-out building.
Putin’s public religiosity should be seen as a sort of “construct” said
Clifford Gaddy, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings
Institution and the author of several books on Russia. Many of the
stories are likely based in truth, but at the same time, are being used
to remind the Russian people of Putin’s historical vision of a greater
Russia with roots that extend far beyond its recent Communist past.
“One of his hallmarks is the way [Putin] rewrites history,” said Gaddy.
“Everything that would suggest there were schisms or splits in Russian
society…this is to be rejected.”
Many have suggested that Putin’s aggression in Ukraine and his
increasing belligerence toward states on Russia’s borders suggests a
desire to restore the former Soviet Union – the dissolution of which he
has called a “tragedy.” But Communism does not seem to be Putin’s
preference, as his efforts to rehabilitate the Orthodox Church show.
Since his ascent to power, Putin has overseen the reconstruction or
refurbishing of some 23,000 Russian Orthodox churches that fell into
disrepair or disuse under Communist rule. He has signed orders
restoring to the church its massive landholdings that were seized under
Communist rule, making the church one of the largest – and richest –
landowners in Russia.
Increasingly, in the past few years, Putin has hewed ever closer to the
church’s position on social issues, including conservative stances on
homosexuality and abortion.
Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, has
publicly praised Putin’s rule over the country, calling it a “miracle
from God.”
For his part, Putin also got plenty in return. Kirill has railed
against Putin’s opponents and the specter of “Liberalism” in public
remarks. The church has also reportedly used its influence in Ukraine
to help advance Russia’s cause in both Crimea, which Russia forcibly
“annexed” last year, and in the eastern Donbas region, where
Russia-backed rebels are fighting for independence from the government
in Kiev.
At an Easter Mass in April, Putin praised the Church for creating a “spirit of patriotism” in Russia.
In some respects, the return to influence of the Russian Church
represents a reversion to normal for Russia. With the exception of the
Communist era, the Church has historically played a major role in
defining Russian society and, some would argue, the very idea of what
it means to be Russian.
“Russian orthodoxy is central to the notion of Russianness,” said Gaddy.
RELATED ANALYSIS: Putin’s Orthodox Jihad
TRANSLATED PUTIN INTERVIEW: Putin to the Corriere della Sera: "I'm not an aggressor, pact with Europe and parity with the US
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
1. Antony was confused as he meditated upon the depths of God's
judgments, and he asked God, 'Lord, how is it that some die young and
others grow old and sick? Why are there some poor and some rich?
Why are there those who are bad and rich and oppress the good
poor?' He heard a voice saying to him, 'Antony, worry about
yourself; these other matters are up to God, and it will not do you any
good to know them.'
June 10, 2015
(Luk 12:37) Blessed
are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching.
Amen I say to you that he will gird himself and make them sit down to
meat and passing will minister unto them.
NCR: Catholic Prophecy, Europe, And The Return Of The King
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Frank Rega: Did St. Hildegard prophesy today's crisis in the world and Church?
Did St. Hildegard of Bingen prophesy today's crisis in the world and Church?
In this epoch, leaders “will plot to diverge from the holiness of God's commands.”
LINK: The Message of Our Lady of La Salette
FATHERS OF MERCY: The Spiritual Battle of Our Time by Rev. William Patrick Casey, C.P.M.
Pope St. John Paul II said many times during the 26 years of his
pontificate that we are living at the time of the greatest battle
between good and evil that the world has ever seen. He would often make
the observation that one of the worst things about this spiritual
battle is that relatively few people even seemed to know that it is
even taking place, precisely because the spiritual blindness so
characteristic of this age is so pervasive, growing wider and deeper
with every passing year.
The late Father John A. Hardon, S.J., whose cause for canonization has
now been introduced in Rome, was probably the greatest dogmatic
theologian this country has ever produced. Shortly before his death in
December of 2000, Fr. Hardon said that we are now truly living in an
age of apostasy, and we are seeing the greatest crisis of faith in the
2000 year history of the Catholic Church.
I have spent the better part of the last 20 years on the road, living
out of my suitcase, preaching the Gospel. I am sorry to tell you that
everywhere we go today, we see the terrible effects of the great loss
of faith in our time. It seems as though every Catholic family has been
wounded in this great abandonment of faith in our day. It seems that
almost every American family has been wounded in one way or another.
Wounded by addiction in one form or another. Wounded by drug abuse.
Wounded by alcohol abuse. Wounded by pornography- poisoning souls,
minds and marriages, more with every passing day. Pornography has now
become, spiritually speaking, America’s most deadly addiction. It is
surely one of Satan’s most devastating weapons for the ruin of souls.
Multitudes are wounded by infidelity, bad marriages, family breakup and
all the psychological, emotional and social devastation that is
consequent to it. We all seem to know families that are wounded by
suicides, crime, violence, and so many other afflictions that impact
upon all of us to the point at which it has all become a threat to the
very life and future of this country.
The great historian and writer George Santayana once stated that “Those
who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.”
History has proven time and time again that no great nation, no great
civilization has survived a moral collapse of the magnitude of the one
we are now witnessing in our time. A recent nationwide survey showed
that 80% of Americans interviewed around the country believe that
America is a nation in moral decline. We know it is true but, as a
people, we lack the moral will to do anything about it.
One must be spiritually blind not to be able to see that there is going
on all around us today the constant public attack on Christianity, the
constant assault on Christian values and morality, the unprecedented
attack on religious liberty and our most basic and essential
Constitutional rights, the relentless attack on marriage and human
sexuality, and the never-ending attack on the sanctity of human life
itself There is no end to any of this in sight, and the spiritual
battle of our time is now quickly becoming the spiritual massacre of
our time.
Why is all of this happening? It is happening precisely because we, as
a people have turned away from God. This is the inevitable outcome when
a people lose their sense of God and lose their sense of sin. I would
suggest to you that this is why so many of our politicians and judges
are attempting to redefine the so-called principle of the separation of
Church and state to mean the separation of God from life. This nation
has now embarked upon a suicidal quest to completely banish God from
public life and to build an atheistic state.
What kind of a world do you think your kids and your grandkids are
going to live in if we go on the way that we are, and events continue
to develop the way that they have in recent years? History will clearly
show that whenever and wherever the true God is driven out, all hell
will break loose, and it won’t be long in coming. St. John Vianney, the
Cure’ of Ars, once said, “Without God, men will revert to barbarism in
three generations.” I would say that we are working on a third
generation of essentially faithless and uncatechized Americans right
now.
My friends, you should know as well as I that there has got to be a
spiritual renewal in this country. There must be a spiritual revival in
this land if we are to avert the impending social, moral, economic and
political disaster we are rapidly headed toward. It must begin with us.
There is only one way to change to world. We must begin by changing one
heart, one soul at a time. We must try to change the world by changing
that little part of the world that God has placed us in. To the extent
to which we answer the call to holiness of life, to the extent to which
it is the Holy Spirit living the life of Christ in us, we will
transform the world around us and save the life and soul of this nation
as God wills.
MEDITATION: Thoughts
by St Theophan (1815-1894) [I John 1:8–2:6; Mark 13:31–14:2]
What the Apostle directed us
towards yesterday, the Gospel now suggests directly to us: Take ye
heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time... Watch ye
therefore... lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping (Mark 13:33,
35–6). It is necessary to wait, and every instant to keep in mind that
the Lord is about to appear and shine like lightning from one end of
the universe to the other. It is thought by some that it is possible to
replace this waiting upon the Lord with waiting for death. This is
good, or at least this should be done. But awaiting the coming of the
Lord is one thing, and awaiting death another. They lead to different
thoughts, and to different feelings born under the impact of these
different thoughts.
Await the day of the Lord, when all
will end in an irrevocable determination. After our death, time will
still continue in an undecided state; but the day of the Lord will
assign everything for eternal ages, and it will be sealed, so you
cannot expect any changes. “I have been waiting,” you say. So wait
longer, and continue to wait. “But this,” you say, “will poison all my
joys.” It will not poison your joys — it will only drive away from your
everyday life those joys that are illegitimately so-called. You will
still rejoice, only in the Lord. It is possible to wait for the Lord
with this joy; and if the Lord finds you in this joy, He will not call
you to account, but will praise you.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Obedience
15. The hermits used to say, 'From those who have not long been
converted to monastic life, God demands nothing so much as sincere
obedience.'
June 8, 2015
(Pro 17:22) A joyful mind maketh age flourishing: a sorrowful spirit drieth up the bones.
POPE FRANCIS:
“I renew my gratitude to the authorities and all the citizens for the
warm welcome. In particular, I thank the dear Catholic community, to
which I desired to bring the love of the universal Church. I appreciate
the commitment to collaboration and solidarity among people of
different religions, urging everyone to continue the work of spiritual
and moral reconstruction of society: they work together as true
brothers and sisters. The Lord bless Sarajevo and Bosnia and
Herzegovina.”
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Rev. J.L. Iannuzzi, STD, Ph.D.:
I have been asked to address a much-needed topic for the Church today:
Can the Pope defect from the faith; has a Pope ever done so? What do
historical records and Church documents say?
Some months ago, some of you may have received an article from me
in
this regard. I have updated and completed it in this booklet I am
sending you as a free download (see link below).To make you life a lil
easier, kindly eliminate all previous forms of this article sent to
you. Feel free to print and share it as you see fit.
Link: http://catholicprophecy.info/Can%20a%20Pope%20Be%20a%20Heretic.pdf
VIA READER: The Pope and Obama
The Pope and Obama are on the same stage in Yankee Stadium in front of a huge crowd.
The Pope leans towards Obama and said, “Do you know that with one
little wave of my hand I can make every person in the crowd go wild
with joy? The joy will not be a momentary display, but will go deep
into their hearts and they’ll forever speak of this day and rejoice.”
Obama replied, “I seriously doubt that with one little wave of your
hand that is possible; show me.” His Holiness then backhanded Obama and
knocked him off the stage! The crowd roared and cheered wildly and
there was happiness throughout the land.
A New Jewish Holiday
Not feeling well, and being concerned about his immortality, Barack Obama consults with a psychic about the date of his death.
Closing her eyes and reaching out to the future, she tells the President, "You will die on a Jewish holiday."
With much anxiety, Barack asks, "Which holiday?"
"It really doesn't matter." She replies. "Whenever you die, it will be a Jewish holiday."
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Obedience
13. The hermits used to say, 'God demand this of Christians: to obey
the inspired Scriptures, which contain the pattern of what they must
say and do, and agree with the teaching of the orthodox bishops and
teachers.'
June 5, 2015
(Eph 6:12-13) For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but
against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of
this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.
Therefore, take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to
resist in the evil day and to stand in all things perfect.
POPE FRANCIS:
“We are all tempted because the law of our spiritual life, our
Christian life is a struggle: a struggle. That’s because the Prince of
this world, Satan, doesn’t want our holiness, he doesn’t want us to
follow Christ. Maybe some of you might say: ‘But Father, how old
fashioned you are to speak about the devil in the 21st century!’ But
look out because the devil is present! The devil is here… even in the
21st century! And we mustn’t be naïve, right? We must learn from the
Gospel how to fight against Satan.”
CERC: Satan and the Millennium by Peter Kreeft
EXCERPT: On Spiritual Warfare | From The Snakebite Letters | Peter Kreeft
When mortals know they're at war, a kind of Emergency Consciousness
arises in them. This can be turned to our advantage, by creating
anxiety, but it's a very unstable compound because it can also foster
self-sacrifice for a higher cause. When they know they're at war, they
live with passion and alertness. They don't greedily demand comfort.
There are no yuppies on a battlefield.
But when they believe they're not at war, they become soft. They demand
their "rights". They think of the earth not as their training ground
but as their home. They confuse wants with needs.
How did we get this immense strategic advantage? Propaganda,
Braintwister--it's our metier. Of course they had no evidence to prove
we didn't exist. They just drifted with "the spirit of the times" and
"the climate of opinion" out of the medieval fire and into the modern
fog.
We didn't achieve this all at once. The campaign developed in two
steps. First, we got them to disbelieve only in sin, not in sanctity;
only in Hell, not in that Other Place. But without the depth of the
valley, there can be no height to the mountain, and they soon found
themselves on a flat and featureless plain. That's why their mental
pictures of God, eternity, angels and saints are all so insipid today:
There's no contrast. In the Middle Ages, those images were vivid and
powerful, moving pictures. They no longer move men's minds.
If there's a war, there must be an enemy. Who do they think their enemy is? There are only four possibilities:
1. They often used to believe their enemies were concrete human beings.
This lie was extremely useful to us when people were passionate enough
to know how to hate and stupid enough to ignore the teaching of that
inveterate troublemaker Paul, that "we wrestle not against flesh and
blood but against principalities and powers."
2. Second, the enemies could be abstract: vice, ignorance,
injustice--that sort of thing. That's safely vague. Only scholars can
be passionate about abstractions.
3. The third and true possibility, of course, is that they have real, actual spiritual enemies: us.
4. But if they no longer believe that, nor either of the other options,
then the only possibility left is that there are no enemies, and no
war, and thus no passion.
And that's where we have them now. Ninety-nine out of a hundred of them
never once in their lives get up from bed in the morning with the
thought that the forthcoming day will involve a battle in the greatest
war of all, and that their Commander is sending them on a mission only
they can accomplish. Instead, they think of their planet not as a
battlefield but as a bathtub.
Be sure to keep the water tepid. At the right moment, we pull the plug.
What delight to contemplate their surprise and terror as they discover
they can go down the drain!
Your affectionate uncle,
Snakebite
RELATED: "Screwtape Proposes A Toast" by C.S. Lewis, published December 19, 1959.
FR. PIETRASZKO'S CORNER: Dialogue on Hell: Why the Damned Remain Damned Forever
MEDITATION: Thoughts
by St Theophan (1815-1894)[Eph. 6:10–17; Matt. 4:1–11]
The Apostle clothes Christians in the whole armour of God. It is
appropriate that this follows the previous lesson. For, if someone,
heeding the call of God, has taken on the beginning of a new life
through God's grace, providing for his own part all diligence (II Pet.
1:5), then he must not expect to rest on his laurels, but rather to
struggle.
He has left the world — for that the world will begin to press him. He
was saved from the power of the devil — the devil will chase after him
and set snares before him, to throw him off the path of good and drag
him back to his domain. He has denied himself, denied selfishness
together with a whole horde of passions. But this sin living in us will
not suddenly relinquish its free and untrammelled existence as we live
in self-pleasure, and every minute it will attempt under various
pretexts to establish once more the same life routine that so richly
filled and fed it earlier. These are three enemies, each with
innumerable hordes; but the commander-in-chief is the devil, whilst his
closest helpers are the demons. They run the show in a sinful life —
the opponents of a spiritual life.
That is why the Apostle arms the Christian against them as if there
were no other enemies at all. He says: we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places (Eph. 6:12). If they did not exist, perhaps battles would not
exist either. Likewise, as soon as they are repelled and struck down,
it takes nothing to repel and defeat the others. So each of you look to
see where you need to direct your arrows, or at least look to see from
which side you particularly need to defend yourself. Then, defend
yourself! The Apostle prescribed several weapons; but all of them have
power only through the Lord. That is why experienced spiritual fighters
have passed on to us this instruction: “Strike the enemy with the name
of the Lord Jesus!”
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Obedience
11. Hyperichius said, 'The monk's service is obedience. He who has this
shall have his prayers answered, and shall stand by the Crucified in
confident faith. For that was how the Lord went to his cross, being
made obedient even unto death' (cf. Phil 2:8).'
June 3, 2015
(John 8:31-32) Then
Jesus said to those Jews who believed him: If you continue in my word,
you shall be my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth: and the
truth shall make you free.
MARK MALLET BLOG: The Spirit of Truth
MONASTERY OF OUR LADY OF THE CENACLE: Restoring Ireland to Christ
EXCERPT: Lukewarm Catholicism: Scourge Upon the Church and Ruin of Souls by Fr. William Casey
How long has it been since you heard a good sermon on sexual morality?
Many bishops and priests no longer believe in sexual sin. People
are sick and tired of lukewarm watered down Catholicism. They are
sick of superficial, boring and non- committal Catholic preaching.
They are sick of being fed false doctrine or no doctrine at all.
They are sick of a lack of sound catechesis for our young people. They
have had enough of the rotten sex education programs which do nothing
but incite young people’s natural curiosity and tempt them to solve it
by personal experience. They are sick of the lack of teaching about
sin, virtue, and vice, the Commandments, Confession, family life and
sanctity.
They are tired of leaders who won’t make moral judgments publically and
stand up and defend the Faith as they are obligated by Christ to do,
and who seem to fear everyone’s judgment but God’s!
Moral authority is like muscle tissue. Muscle tissue, if never used,
will atrophy and die. This is our present condition. Our people are
tired of shepherds who seem to protect the wolves rather than the
sheep! They have had enough of the modernist mush! New Age nonsense has
been shoved down their throats in place of the true Faith. People
are fed up with the superficial spirituality of butterflies, banners
and balloons. They have had enough liturgical abuses and irreverence at
Holy Mass.
The Council of Trent states, “Where there is irreverence,
there will be corruption.” Scandal follows corruption, like night
follows the day. There is not now nor has there ever been a New America
Church. It is a sham and a lie. If we don’t put an end to it, God will,
sooner or later, one way or another! Call it anything you like. It
comes in many different forms, by many different names and in many
different disguises:
• Lukewarm Catholicism
• Cafeteria Catholicism
• Theological Modernism
• Liberal American Catholicism
• Rationalism or Relativism
Whatever you choose to call it, it is a fatal disease. It is a killer!
Ultimately, it leads to paralysis of faith and the ruin of souls.
Lukewarm Catholicism, in all its various forms, can be rooted in many
things: weak faith, loss of faith, moral laxity, habitual sin,
lack of prayer, pride, material prosperity, spiritual sloth, sheer
laziness, worldliness, whatever; but its mindset seems to have
permeated everywhere and almost everything in Catholic life
today, in one degree or another. It has crept into Catholic
Schools, Bible Studies, RCIA programs, Religious Ed programs, Chancery
offices and liturgical preaching.
If you recognize the signs of Lukewarm Catholicism, if you see some of
the symptoms in yourself or your home, in your family or in your
parish, wherever you may see it, please, my brothers and sisters in
Christ, the time has come to do something about it! Make changes in
your life. Rebuild your interior castle with the seven habits of
sanctity.
It is the work of a life-time and requires our determined effort and
cooperation with God’s Sanctifying Grace through the Sacraments. If we
are to have robust Spiritual health, we must develop these SEVEN DAILY
HABITS. The Morning Offering, Spiritual Reading, the Rosary, Holy
Communion, Mental Prayer, the Angelus and daily examination of
Conscience. These seven habits must take priority in our lives for they
are more important than meals, sleep, work or recreation.
The Church is mortally wounded in this country. Friends, don’t put
it off. Don’t count on others to do it for you. Our time may
very well be short. Archbishop Sheen used to say that, before the
hand of God comes down upon the world, it always comes down upon
the Church.
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Rev. J.L. Iannuzzi, STD, Ph.D.:
In response to recent outpouring of requests that I share with you the
Fatima Consecration article in book format for those who do not have
email or internet access, kindly see download link below. You may
download, print it and share it as you see fit.
Download link: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/Has%20Russia%20Been%20Consecrated%20to%20Mary.bookformat.pdf
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Obedience
10. She also said, 'We ought to behave always with discretion and
remain in the community, not following our own will, nor seeking our
own good. Like exiles we have benn separated from the things of the
world and have given ourselves in faith to the one Father. We need
nothing of what we have left behind. There we had reputation and plenty
to eat; here we have little to eat an not much of anything else.'
June 1, 2015
(John 2:5) His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye.
AUDIO SANCTO: The Power and Promises of the Rosary
BLOG: Famous Rosary Miracles
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA HOLY SOULS: This is powerful- 19 year old Soldier saved by Rosary - just like his great-grandfather
It is evident how the Blessed Mother protects us. May God receive the glory and praise !!
VIA A MOMENT WITH MARY: Two white hands “removed something from his eyes”
Bruno Cornacchiola was born on May 9, 1913 in a poor agnostic family of
five children. He became a Christian in an Adventist church, which was
hostile to the pope.
As a radical Protestant, he intended to kill Pope Pius XII, until the
Virgin Mary appeared to him at Tre Fontane (Rome) on April 12, 1947.
Tre Fontane is where Saint Paul (whose name was Saul before his
conversion) was beheaded.
On April 12, 1947, Bruno had taken his three children to play ball on a
field near Tre Fontane; the ball was lost, a search began. Then one of
the children, Gianfranco, suddenly knelt at the entrance of a grotto,
saying: "The beautiful lady!" The other children came and knelt too,
repeating: "The beautiful lady!" Their father tried to pull them away
but they had become extremely heavy and he could not move them.
Entering the grotto, Bruno Cornacchiola had the sensation that two
white hands "removed something from his eyes," and after a moment of
darkness, he saw her too ... The beautiful Lady said: "You are
persecuting me, stop now! Return to the holy fold. Ask the people to
pray, and to recite the Rosary daily for the conversion of sinners, the
unbelievers, and for the unity of Christians."
SEE ALSO: http://www.marypages.com/TreFontaneEnglish.htm
FROM A MOMENT WITH MARY: Idols were overthrown and demons fled
The Church celebrates the feast of the coming of Christ in Egypt on the
24th day of Bashans (the end of May in the Catholic calendar). The Holy
Family went to the land of Egypt: Mary, the Virgin Mother, held the
little child Jesus in her arms, while Joseph the carpenter walked
beside her. They had fled in order to escape Herod who was seeking to
kill the child.
The archangel Gabriel came to Joseph in a dream and said to him:
‘‘Arise, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt. Stay there
until I tell you, because Herod will seek the child to destroy him.’’
Joseph got up, took the child and his mother at night, went to Egypt
and remained there until the death of Herod.
The scholars and historians of the Church believe that the Holy Family
spent about four years in Egypt. As they approached the pagan statues
of Egypt, the statues collapsed in the presence of the Lord, and demons
fled.
Palladius, bishop of Helenopolis, Bithynia (now Turkey), historian of
the Church of the 4th century, wrote an account of this, having
witnessed the overthrown idols that crumbled in the presence of Christ.
FROM A MOMENT WITH MARY: They dreamt the same dream
Around the year 1105, the
inhabitants of Seninghem (a small town in northern France) and the
surrounding province were struck with the terrible disease similar to
the plague, commonly called "Saint Anthony’s Fire" or "hell fire"
because its victims suffered burning sensations in all parts of their
body.
Around the same time, there were
two jugglers, one named Itier, the other Norman, who hated each other
because Norman had killed Itier’s brother. One night, they both had the
same dream: the Virgin Mary appeared to them and told them to go to the
Cathedral of Arras (in northern France) and speak to a certain bishop
there called Lambert.
Lambert understood that Mary had
sent these two men so that he could reconcile them. He spoke to each
one separately and then brought them together. He asked each one to
give the other the kiss of peace and to spend the night in prayer in
the cathedral.
At dawn on Sunday, May 28, 1105
(the feast of Pentecost that year), Mary appeared to them, gave them a
lighted candle, and asked them to pour some of its melted wax in water,
which they were to give to drink to the sick and to pour on their
wounds. Miraculously, all those who drank this water were healed.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Obedience
9. Syncletica said, 'It seems to me that for those who live in
monasteries obedience is a higher virtue than chastity, however
perfect. Chastity is in danger of pride, obedience has the promise of
humility.'
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