Keep
your eyes open!...
June 28, 2023
THE TRIB TIMES
WILL
RETURN AFTER A SHORT SUMMER RECESS, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(Isa 49:1-2)
Give ear, ye islands, and hearken, ye people from afar. The Lord hath
called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he hath been
mindful of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword: in
the shadow of his hand he hath protected me, and hath made me as a
chosen arrow: in his quiver he hath hidden me.
CATHOLIC SPIRIT: Pro-lifers call for action at ‘National Celebrate Life Day’ rally on Dobbs anniversary
THE CATHOLIC THING:
After ‘Dobbs,’ abortion rate falls At the one-year anniversary of Dobbs
vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court decision
that overturned Roe v. Wade, reports show that in the last year, the
number of abortions has decreased significantly across much of the
United States. Polling website FiveThirtyEight stated that “there were
24,290 fewer legal abortions between July 2022 and March 2023, compared to a pre-Dobbs baseline.”
CATHOLIC VOTE: The Greatest Day: 10 Best Quotes Celebrating Dobbs
OPINION: Reflections on Dobbs, one year later
VIA TWITTER (Sachin Jose @Sachinettiyil):
17 years ago, Mexican Catholic actor Eduardo Verástegui convinced a
couple not to abort their child. That child whose name is Bella is now
17. Two years ago during an event entitled 'International Forum on
Pregnant Women in a Vulnerable State,' at the Mexican senate, Eduardo
invited her to the stage. At the stage, Bella told Eduardo "Godfather,
thank you for saving my life,"to which he replied "Goddaughter, thank
you for saving mine.” The Guadalupe clinic in Los Angeles, which was
started by Eduardo in 2011, saved 600 unborn babies from abortion
within one year after its inaguration.
ZENIT.ORG NEWS: Important Ruling by the German Federal Administrative Court: Prayer Vigils Outside Abortion Clinics Are Legal
The Federal Administrative Court of
Germany has issued a significant ruling, upholding the right of
pro-life advocates to conduct prayer vigils outside abortion clinics.
According to the judges, these peaceful demonstrations cannot be
prohibited and are protected by the fundamental right to freedom of
assembly.
The case originated in the city of
Pforzheim, where local authorities had imposed a ban on prayer vigils
near the “Pro Familia” abortion clinic. However, the Federal
Administrative Court ruled that there was no evidence to support the
claim that pregnant women were in an exceptional psychological
situation and had to endure a humiliation.
The ruling also emphasizes that in
a pluralistic society, there is no right to completely avoid
confrontation with different religious ideas or beliefs. This means
that pro-life advocates have the right to peacefully express their
opposition to abortion.
The verdict has been met with
relief and gratitude by pro-life groups. Pavica Vojnovic, leader of the
“40 Days for Life” prayer group in Pforzheim, expressed her
satisfaction and highlighted the importance of protecting every human
life.
However, the Federal Administrative
Court’s ruling poses a challenge to the coalition government’s plans to
establish exclusion zones around abortion clinics. Federal Minister for
Family Affairs, Lisa Paus, has advocated for limiting prayer and
support activities near these facilities, but the court has made it
clear that freedom of assembly and expression in public spaces are
fundamental rights that must be respected.
This ruling reaffirms the
importance of protecting freedom of expression and assembly while
recognizing the right of pro-life advocates to peacefully express their
convictions. The decision by the Federal Administrative Court
highlights the need to balance rights and liberties in a pluralistic
and diverse society.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
45. A hermit said, 'If you fall
ill, do not complain. If the Lord God has willed that your body
should be weakened, who are you to complain about it? Does he not
care for you in all your needs? Surely you sould not be alive
without him. Be patient in your illness and ask God to give you
what is right, that is, that which will enable you to do his will, and
be patient, and eat what you have in charity.'
June 26, 2023
(Rev 14:6-7) And I saw another angel
flying through the midst of heaven, having the eternal gospel, to
preach unto them that sit upon the earth and over every nation and
tribe and tongue and people: Saying with a loud voice: Fear the Lord
and give him honour, because the hour of his judgment is come. And
adore ye him that made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of
waters.
FRENCH BISHOP JEAN PIERRE CAUMUS
(1584-1652), a disciple of St. Francis de Sales: "Meditation on the
four last things will be useful to you provided that you always end
with an act of confidence in God. Never represent to yourself Death or
Hell on the one side unless the Cross is on the other; so that when
your fears have been excited by the one you may with confidence turn
for help to the other".
CATHOLICIRELAND.NET: Fear of the Lord
THE CATHOLIC THING: Fear and Fearlessness
Fear no one. . .do not be afraid. .
.be afraid. . .do not be afraid (see Matthew 10:26-33) Our Lord seems
to be giving contradictory commands. In these eight verses, he commands
us three times not to be afraid and once to be afraid. Now, this
seeming confusion is of a piece with the rest of Scripture. One of the
most common lines in the Bible is Do not be afraid. And yet another
common exhortation is to fear the Lord. The Psalmist, for example,
makes the curious invitation, “Come, children, listen to me; I will
teach you fear of the Lord.” (Psalm 34:12) So, how do we make sense of
this?
Fear is an inescapable reality for
us because we are contingent beings. We fear because we sense that deep
truth that we depend on another for our existence. Even the most rugged
individualist among us didn’t bring himself into being and doesn’t
sustain himself in being. Our existence depends on something outside of
us. The possibility of our being separated from that source produces
fear, either good or bad. But we will fear something.
Let’s begin with the good fear. Be
“afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” What
Jesus means here is Fear of the Lord, of the one who alone can give
life and take it away. He doesn’t mean horror or fright at the Lord, as
though God is simply out to punish us. He means the fear of going
against and being separated from the one who holds us in being. It’s
the attitude of a child in the arms of his father; he dares not rebel
against the one who holds him safe.
This fear is first an
acknowledgment of God’s transcendence and almighty power: He is God; I
am not. All spiritual growth and the entire Christian life begin with
this truth. Thus, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
(Proverbs 9:10) It is the humble acknowledgment of our nothingness that
opens us to the work of God’s grace. That is why Fear of the Lord is
regarded as the first of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Without this
disposition and attitude, we regard ourselves as sufficient and thus
close ourselves off to his grace.
If we forget this truth – He is
God; I am not – then we make Him unnecessary to us. He’s nice to have
around, but not absolutely necessary. He becomes just another person in
our life or, worse, a talisman that we bring out when we need it.
Unfortunately, we have so domesticated God that many Catholics treat
Him in just that way, as someone on hand for comfort and, of course,
affirmation. Fear of the Lord delivers us from such irreverence. It
keeps us from using God as a means to an end.
More importantly, this fear is a
reverence for God as Father. Notice how in this passage Jesus exhorts
us to fear while speaking also about the Father’s tender care and
provision for us. Fear of the Lord is ultimately a fear of offending
our Father because He loves us. It keeps us from sin not so much
because of punishment (although that’s not a bad motivation), but
because of love. It is the fear of disrupting our relationship with
Love by our sin.
Contrary to what the modern mind
might think, Fear of the Lord leads to freedom. What enslaves us is
fear of the wrong things: poverty, humiliation, weakness, loneliness,
etc. Fear of these lesser things leads us into sin, or to control the
situation and avoid the suffering. Thus, the adage that Fear is the
chief activator of our faults. False fears lead us to grasp for control
and drive us into the slavery of our own willfulness.
Further – and again
counterintuitively – this fear of God as almighty Father is the
necessary foundation for trust. After all, we don’t trust what we
perceive to be weak. If His power cannot be feared, then neither can it
be trusted. Precisely because He is mighty enough to be feared, we can
also trust in Him. Most importantly, His power and might are for us,
His children.
Finally, Fear of the Lord makes us
fearless – which explains Jesus’ seeming contradiction in today’s
Gospel. Fear of the Lord puts everything else into perspective. If we
are rooted in Fear of the Lord – knowing Him to be our almighty God and
loving Father – then we shouldn’t fear anything else. Or as Raniero
Cantalamessa put it, “Fear God and don’t be afraid.” Persecution,
humiliation, poverty, illness, even death – as long as we cling to our
heavenly Father, we shouldn’t fear any of these things.
This is the secret of the martyrs
and why our Lord contrasts these fears in this exhortation to witness
and martyrdom. The martyrs triumphed over persecution and suffering not
because of their own strength but because by Fear of the Lord they
clung to Him who was able to save them from death. And they were heard
for their godly fear. (see Hebrews 5:7)
What do you fear? This is a timely
consideration. It seems that things are unravelling before us and there
seem to be many reasons for fear. But if we have that proper fear of
the Lord, then we can rest secure in the Father’s might, freed from any
other fear.
BISHOP BARRON:
Friends, three times in today’s Gospel Jesus tells us not to be afraid.
When we fear, we cling to who we are and what we have; we see ourselves
as the threatened center of a hostile universe. Fear is the “original
sin” of which the Church Fathers speak. Fear is the poison that was
injected into human consciousness and human society from the beginning.
And fear is a result of forgetting our deepest identity. At the root
and ground of our being there is what Christianity calls “the image and
likeness of God.” This means that at the foundation of our existence,
we are one with the divine power that continually creates and sustains
the universe. We are held and cherished by the infinite love of God.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
41. There was a hermit who was
often ill. But one year he did not fall ill and he was very upset and
wept saying, 'The Lord has left me, and he has not visited me.'
June 23, 2023
(Rev 3:14-17)
And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write: These things saith
the Amen, the faithful and true witness, who is the beginning of the
creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot.
I would thou wert cold or hot. But because thou art lukewarm and
neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest: I am rich and made wealthy and have need of
nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor
and blind and naked.
REGINA PROPHETARUM: Neither Progressive Nor Conservative but a Restorationist
A Catholic, therefore, is not to be
a progressive nor to be a conservative that approves the progress.
Rather, a Catholic is to witness to God’s plan from the beginning…to be
a restorationist…to be a revivalist who revives the true Gospel
message. We don’t provide affirmation to sodomitical activists…we don’t
welcome Sodom and Gomorrah into our midst…rather we call all men to
repentance.
THE CATHOLIC THING: Synod on Synodality document outlines discussion questions for October
A new Vatican
document released Tuesday outlines key questions for what now promises
to be a wide-ranging discussion on Pope Francis’ vision of a more
inclusive, decentralized, and “listening” Church. It covers such
hot-button topics as women deacons, priestly celibacy, LGBTQ outreach,
and highlights a desire for new institutional bodies to allow for greater participation in decision-making by the “People of God.”
NEWSMAX: Mike Huckabee: Traditional Catholics Won't Embrace LGBTQ Inclusion
NEWS REPORT: In Europe’s empty churches, prayer and confessions make way for drinking and dancing
The confessionals where generations
of Belgians admitted their sins stood stacked in a corner of what was
once Sacred Heart Church, proof the stalls — as well as the Roman
Catholic house of worship — had outlived their purpose.
The building is to close down for
two years while a cafe and concert stage are added, with plans to turn
the church into “a new cultural hot spot in the heart of Mechelen,”
almost within earshot of where Belgium’s archbishop lives. Around the
corner, a former Franciscan church is now a luxury hotel where music
star Stromae spent his wedding night amid the stained-glass windows.
Across Europe, the continent that
nurtured Christianity for most of two millennia, churches, convents and
chapels stand empty and increasingly derelict as faith and church
attendance shriveled over the past half century.
“That is painful. I will not hide
it. On the other hand, there is no return to the past possible,” Mgr.
Johan Bonny, bishop of Antwerp, told the Associated Press. Something
needs to be done and now, ever more of the once sacred structures are
repurposed for anything from clothes shops and climbing walls to night
clubs.
It is a phenomenon seen over much
of Europe’s Christian heartland from Germany to Italy and many nations
in between. It really stands out in Flanders, in northern Belgium,
which has some of the greatest cathedrals on the continent and the
finest art to fill them. If only it had enough faithful. A 2018 study
from the PEW research group showed, in Belgium, that of the 83% that
say they were raised Christian, only 55% still consider themselves so.
Only 10% of Belgians still attended church regularly.
Nowadays, visiting international choirs may find that their singers outnumber the congregation.
On average, every one of the 300
towns in Flanders has about six churches and often not enough faithful
to fill a single one. Some become eyesores in city centers, their
maintenance a constant drain on finances.
Mechelen, a town of 85,000 just
north of Brussels is the Roman Catholic center of Belgium. It has two
dozen churches, several huddled close to St. Rumbold’s cathedral with
its UNESCO World Heritage belfry tower. Mayor Bart Somers has been
working for years to give many of the buildings a different purpose.
“In my city we have a brewery in a
church, we have a hotel in a church, we have a cultural center in a
church, we have a library in a church. So we have a lot of new
destinations for the churches,” said Somers, who as Flemish regional
minister is also involved in repurposing some 350 churches spread
across the densely populated region of 6.7 million.
A landmark repurposing project in
Belgium was Martin’s Patershof hotel in Mechelen, where the interior of
the church was gutted to create rooms where the beds have headboards
resembling organ pipes and a breakfast room next to the altar where
wafers of gold leaf hover overhead. “We often hear that people come
here to relax and enjoy the silence of its former identity,” said hotel
manager Emilie De Preter.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
38. A hermit said, 'The monk's cell
is the furnace in Babylon in which the three children found the Son of
God. It is the pillar of cloud out of which God spoke to Moses.'
June 21, 2023
(Mat 6:16-18)
And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure
their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you,
they have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest anoint thy
head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not to men to fast, but to
thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret, will
repay thee.
EPIC: What The Early Church Fathers Said About Fasting
CATHOLIC DAILY REFLECTIONS: Transformed by Silent Sacrifices
Many today have abandoned the holy practice of fasting. Fasting is a
powerful penitential practice that bestows great benefits upon the
soul. The act of self-denial from certain food and drink, choosing
instead simple nourishment from time to time, such as bread and water,
or a reduced amount of food, greatly strengthens the soul and disposes
a person to many spiritual blessings. Too often, we live for fleshly
satisfactions and fall into the trap of trying to indulge our appetites
on a regular basis. But doing so has the negative effect of tempting us
to neglect the more important spiritual desires for holiness. By
depriving ourselves of sensory delights from time to time, we become
more disposed to seek the true and lasting delights that come only from
God’s grace. Therefore, this passage above presumes that we do
regularly fast and engage in other forms of self-denial.
Do you fast? Do you engage in other forms of self-denial on a regular
basis? Daily prayer, reading the Scriptures, learning about the lives
of the saints, and regular participation in the Sacraments all lead us
closer to God and make us holy. But fasting and self-denial are also
very important, so it is essential that we strive to embrace them as a
part of our spiritual growth.
In this passage, Jesus specifically calls us to seek the interior
rewards that come from fasting and self-denial. He points out that if
we use fasting as a way of gaining praise from others, then we lose the
spiritual benefits of our fasting. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving must
all be done in a way that they are as hidden as possible so that our
acts are truly sincere and not done so as to receive the earthly
rewards of the admiration of others.
Additionally, the lesson taught in this Gospel can also be applied to
other areas of our lives. For example, if you are suffering from some
illness or some form of bodily pain or discomfort, then of course you
should seek the necessary medical attention. But these physical
ailments also offer us another opportunity for spiritual growth when
they are embraced in a silent and interior way. Even our pain or
discomfort can be transformed into grace if we choose to embrace it
with joy, offer it to God as a sacrifice, and keep it to ourselves as a
silent gift given to God.
Reflect, today, upon your practice of fasting, as well as every other
opportunity you have each day to make silent and interior sacrifices to
God. If you do suffer from some daily cross that is beyond your
control, then try to turn it into a spiritual offering to our Lord. And
if you are able to freely embrace fasting on a regular basis, then try
to prayerfully commit to this practice. Try to do it every week,
especially on Friday in honor of the Good Friday sacrifice made by our
Lord. Don’t underestimate the value of these hidden sacrifices. Make
them a regular part of your spiritual life and God will bestow upon you
many spiritual riches from Heaven.
My sacrificial Lord, You denied Yourself of many earthly delights,
especially when You fasted for forty days in the desert. Help me to
take seriously this obligation to fast and to mortify my appetites. And
help me to do so in a hidden way. May my life continually imitate Your
perfect sacrifice so that I may become more like You every day. Jesus,
I trust in You.
BISHOP BARRON:
The appetites for food and drink are so pressing, so elemental, that,
unless they are quelled and disciplined, they will simply take over the
soul. They are like children who clamor constantly for attention and
who, if indulged, will in short order run the house.
Therefore, if the passion for God is
to be awakened, the more immediately pressing desires must be muted,
and this is the purpose of fasting. We go hungry and thirsty so that
the deepest hunger and thirst might be felt. In a way, fasting is like
the “calming of the monkey mind” effected by the Rosary: both are means
of settling the superficial mind that darts from preoccupation to
preoccupation.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
37. When a brother was troubled by
thoughts of leaving the monastery, he told this to his abbot. He said,
'Go and sit down, and entrust your body to your cell, as a man puts a
precious possession into a safe, and do not go out of it. Then let your
thoughts go where they will. Let your mind think what it likes, so long
as it does not drive your body out of the cell.'
June 19, 2023
(Rom 5:6-9) For why did Christ, when as yet we were weak, according to
the time, die for the ungodly? For scarce for a just man will one die:
yet perhaps for a good man some one would dare to die. But God
commendeth his charity towards us: because when as yet we were sinners
according to the time. Christ died for us. Much more therefore, being
now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him.
INSIDE THE VATICAN
Letter #105, 2023, Fri, June 16: Viganò on L.A.
Letter #104, 2023, Friday, June 16: Viganò on D.C. Mass (on June 14)
Letter #101, 2023, Fri, June 16: Schneider on Synod
CATHOLIC VOTE: Here Are The Bishops Standing Up to the Dodgers
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: The Pelvic Divide: Anatomy, ideology, and pseudo-science
CNA: LA archbishop at Mass before Dodgers game: ‘When God is insulted, it diminishes all of us’
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez
celebrated a special Mass on Friday ahead of an act of “blasphemy”
scheduled to take place at Dodgers Stadium this evening. The Mass,
celebrated on the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, marked the
beginning of a day of prayer in reparation for the Los Angeles Dodgers’
decision to honor a group that calls itself the “Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence” with a “Community Hero Award.” Many are calling the
organization an “anti-Catholic hate group” for its lewd performances
that profane holy symbols and its perverse parody of the Catholic Mass.
“My brothers and sisters in Christ,
we gather together on this solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to
celebrate the beauty of God’s love and pray that our hearts might be
conformed to his, which burns with love for all people,” Gomez said in
his homily at the 12:10 p.m. Mass, celebrated in the Cathedral of Our
Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. “The Catholic religion is a religion
of love. We believe that God is love, that he has opened his heart to
reveal himself to us in Jesus Christ,” he said.
Gomez said that Catholics share
God’s love not only in word and worship but also through acts of
charity. “We prove our love by working for peace and justice for every
person. This is why so many of us are offended by the decision to honor
a group that insults Jesus and mocks Catholic believers,” Gomez
remarked.
“Religious freedom and the respect
for the beliefs of others are hallmarks of our nation. When God is
insulted, when the beliefs of any of our neighbors are ridiculed, it
diminishes all of us,” he said. Gomez said that religious sisters,
priests, deacons, lay Catholics, and consecrated people serve where
there is suffering and a need for help.
“We are teachers and healers. We
are advocates for those our society neglects: the poor, the homeless,
the prisoner, the unborn, the immigrant,” he said.
“We do this because we are Catholics and we are called to love with the heart of Jesus,” he said.
“At every turn in his earthly life,
Jesus rejected the temptation to violence. When one of his disciples
raised his sword to fight for him, Jesus said, ‘No more of this,’” he
said. Gomez said that Jesus is “meek and humble of heart” and “gave his
Church permission to proclaim the good news of his love for every human
heart to the ends of the earth, until the day he returns.” He also said
that Jesus “commands us to forgive those who trespass against us and to
pray for those who persecute us.”
Jesus taught us to oppose what is wrong and support what is true and
beautiful, he said. “So today we ask him to give us the strength to do
that,” he said.
At the end of the Mass, Gomez
prayed the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with the attendees, a
prayer that he, together with the U.S. bishops, asked all Catholics to
pray in reparation for the act of “blasphemy” scheduled to take place
at Dodger Stadium.
An act of reparation is offered to the Lord to repair the spiritual damage inflicted by sin.
At the conclusion of the Mass,
Gomez noted the heavy presence of religious sisters and publicly
thanked them for their vocation and ministry, which was followed by
applause.
On Friday, in the parking lot
outside of Dodger Stadium, two Catholic advocacy organizations,
Catholics for Catholics and CatholicVote, along with Virgin Most
Powerful Radio organized a prayer rally in reparation for offenses
committed against Jesus Christ.
Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, was scheduled to lead a eucharistic procession at 3 p.m. local time.
The Dodgers sparked protests from
Catholics across the nation after it was announced that the team would
honor the Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in
June.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
36. A hermit said, 'A tree cannot bear fruit if it is often transplanted. So it is with the monk.'
June 16, 2023
(Rev 13:15-17) And it was given him to give life to the image of the
beast: and that the image of the beast should speak: and should cause
that whosoever will not adore the image of the beast should be slain.
And he shall make all, both little and great, rich and poor, freemen
and bondmen, to have a character in their right hand or on their
foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, but he that hath the
character, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
HEADLINES
A.I. Could Rewrite the Bible and Correct Religion, Says Professor and WEF Member
CHATGPT-LED Church Service Generated Entirely by AI Attracts Hundreds of People
Techies use Catechism to train AI, share results
OPINION: A New “AI Religion” and a New “AI Bible”?
FSSPX.NEWS: Cardinal Eijk: The Church Must Speak Out About Artificial Intelligence
Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk,
Archbishop of Utrecht (Netherlands) strongly affirms it: the
proliferation of new artificial intelligence (AI) services and
offerings requires a response and consideration by the Catholic Church.
The Archbishop of Utrecht is a
doctor by training and an expert in sexuality and bioethics. There are
two urgent matters for him: on the one hand, that the Church be present
on “chatbots” such as ChatGPT or Google’s Bardo, so that the answers
also include the religious point of view.
On the other hand, there is a need
to reflect more broadly on the impact of AI and, in particular, on how
its use, including in the field of pastoral and medical care, affects
the way in which societies perceive human beings.
The cardinal, known for having
called for a magisterial clarification of the Church on the issue of
gender ideology, is convinced that the Church must also examine,
through an official document, the impact of AI on the human being,
which calls for very broad reflection.
“It is difficult to have an
overview of all that AI can do for us, because it is still an area that
is not well known. But AI technologies, like chatbots, can also say
something about religious issues.” The fact is that “the chatbot
response is the result of an AI calculation. But it does mean that
adding religious information can influence responses. For this, we must
try to be present in the field of AI. But AI can do much more than
text.… It can respond by collecting data and putting it in order or
context.” A striking example is that of Microsoft's “Bing,” which,
thanks to AI, has transformed from a search engine to that of a
chatbot. Such a system can simulate conversations with saints based on
broadcast information about the lives and words of the saints.
Cardinal Eijk admits that some
caution is needed, but at the same time: “If we wait too long, others
will have introduced more information that will determine the answers.…
We do not know the consequences of the widespread use of chatbot
software, but we can already foresee a certain scenario.”
“These software programs make mistakes, but what will it be in 10, 20
or even 5 years? There will be other types of AI, much more powerful
computers that can give much more precise answers. We can influence the
answers now.… Being afraid is understandable, because AI can have very
negative consequences for our society.”
The question, continues the cardinal, is not only about the use of
software for interaction, but the question of “the robotization of our
society, which could lead to the loss of many jobs, especially for
people who have not done any specialized studies.… Because the robot is
a kind of employee who does not ask for a raise, who works 24 hours a
day without getting tired. It could radically change our society.”
The risk of a new “transhumanism,” in which human beings can be treated
and perceived as machines, is also a real danger. Thus, Cardinal Eijk
recalled that “we already have retirement homes where robots bring the
meals. But giving food to the sick is a moment of human contact with
the patient that is being lost.”
The shift from simple food distribution to patient care means that, in
some practical aspects, human contact becomes increasingly
imperceptible. Thus, “if a robot takes a patient out of bed and takes
them to the shower, there is a risk that human contact will be
completely lost. With the improvement of software, nothing stands in
the way of this step.”
ALETEIA EXCERPT: The value of human qualities in the age of AI
The evolution of consciousness from
the relatively simple laws of physics to the profound intricacies of
human thought and emotion is a journey of unparalleled complexity and
significance. As we navigate the dawn of the AI era, we grapple with
new pressures, challenges, and opportunities, all of which contribute
to our ongoing cognitive evolution.
However, it is crucial to recognize
the unique qualities that characterize human consciousness, including
self-awareness, love, and the capacity for wisdom. These qualities,
which shape our shared pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty, cannot
be replicated or replaced by AI.
From the perspective of Christian
tradition, wisdom, formed from the union of knowledge and love, serves
as our guiding compass in this quest. While AI may amass vast amounts
of data and knowledge, it lacks the ability to truly love, thereby
missing out on the holistic wisdom that humans can attain. Wisdom leads
us forward, guiding our shared journey to vistas previously seen only
by saints and sages.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
32. It used to be said that if you
were tempted where you were living, you should not leave the place at
the time of the temptation. If you did leave it then, you would
find that the temptation that you were fleeing would go with you to the
next place. You should be patient until the temptation is over,
then you could leave without upsetting anyone or troubling others who
lived there.
June 14, 2023
(Rom 12:1-2) I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service. And be not
conformed to this world: but be reformed in the newness of your mind,
that you may prove what is the good and the acceptable and the perfect
will of God.
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: Tradition and the signs of the times
THE CATHOLIC THING: Two Commentaries on Liturgy
ONEPETERFIVE: Bishop Athanasius Schneider on the Blessed Sacrament
THE SHIELD OF FAITH: On the Modernist Novus Ordo Mass.
A Modernist council and Modernist Popes have given us a Modernist Mass.
No less an authority than Pope Paul
VI himself admitted that the smoke of Satan had entered the church
through some crack. As the late Fr. Dominic Bourmaud stated in his
classic work One Hundred Years of Modernism – A Genealogy of the
Principles of the Second Vatican Council, the smoke is Modernism, and
the crack was Vatican II.
According to Fr. Bourmaud, the Modernist levels a three-pronged attack
against the bulwarks of Christian culture – the philosophy of being,
revelation as a fact, and the harmony between faith and reason. In its
place modernism proposes a philosophy of no being (existence precedes
essence), revelation without a historical basis, and ultimately, “a
theology without God.”
In the current synodal process, as noted recently by Fr. Davide
Pagliarani, Superior General of the SSPX, “The underlying idea is that
God does not reveal Himself through the traditional channels of Holy
Scripture and Tradition, which are safeguarded by the hierarchy, but
through the ‘experience of the people of God’ [i.e. revelation without
a historical basis]. Such a faith-experience, necessarily destined to
evolve according to the awareness and the needs of the different
moments in history, is constantly ‘enriched’ with new contents, and at
the same time leaves aside that which is no longer current.”
This is reflected in the Modernist Mass of Paul VI with its constant
state of flux – changes in rubrics and praxis, in rules, regulations
and ceremonies. It focuses on the personal experience and feelings of
the people, their active participation in the Mass, on self, and
secondarily on the Lord, thus approaching a “theology without God.”
The following three facts alone indicate the Modernism of the Mass and
its theology without God – the tendency to minimize the absolute
primacy of the worship of God in the Mass:
- The Priest faces the assembly while praying to God.
- The Sacred Species are handled by Eucharistic ministers.
- Communion is received in the hand and standing – disrespectful on two counts.
It is ironic that the proponents of
this Mass are attempting to increase devotion to the Eucharist.
Historically, only in contact with the consecrated hands of a Catholic
Priest, the Sacred Species are touched by unconsecrated male and female
lay “ministers,” and put into the hands of the laity without exception
for reception, while everyone is standing. “And he said: I believe
Lord. And falling down he adored Him” [John 9:38].
I am old enough to remember
attending the Tridentine Mass, when as a child I thought that the few
who received Communion must be very holy. They received only from the
Priest, in the mouth and kneeling. Confession before reception was the
implied standard. This process is of course completely alien to the
Modernist Mass, as it is the antithesis of the “welcoming, ecumenical”
mindset of its attendees, most of whom according to statistics, do not
even believe in the Real Presence. The best example of the Modernist
mass-going mentality that I have read came from a diocesan newspaper,
where one person was quoted as saying that to kneel before receiving
Communion would be “beneath her dignity.”
To quote Fr. Bourmaud: “The religion in which man divinizes and adores
himself is thus a rejection of original sin and the refusal of the
Savior. Such is the essence of Modernism” [p. 181].
In the Modernist Mass, the Priest
is not obliged offer the Holy Sacrifice ad orientem, the sermon is
frequently an attempt to entertain, and talking in Church is common. In
fact, in one of the most recent Modernist Novus Ordo Masses that I
attended, the deacon had to get up on the altar before Mass started in
order to ask everyone to be quiet, because some people wanted to pray!
To approach the altar with a
“humble and contrite heart,” after proving oneself; to deny oneself,
forget oneself, and concentrate on worshiping and adoring God. This is
piety, this is reverence. Lord, help me not to judge those who accuse
worshipers such as these of being triumphalist rigid Christians, rosary
counters, restorationists. and self-absorbed neo-pelagians.
To improve Eucharistic devotion,
the Modernist Mass would have to change direction and proceed in the
way of the Traditional Latin Mass. But change direction it will not and
cannot, since it would be admitting defeat. How many decades went by
before they finally caved in and restored the Eucharistic prayer to say
“for many” instead of “for all?” Instead they will tweak it in some
minor, non-essentials. For example, having communicants say more than
just “Amen” upon receiving the Host. Let them tweak all they want –
there is little hope for the Modernist Novus Ordo Mass!
References:
Fr. Dominic Bourmaud, One Hundred Years of Modernism: A Genealogy of
the Principles of the Second Vatican Council, Kansas City, Mo., Angelus
Press, 2006.
“Interview with the Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint
Pius X”, with Fr. Davide Pagliarani;
https://fsspx.org/en/publications/letters/interview-superior-general-priestly-society-saint-pius-x-82423
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
31. A hermit lived in the desert
twelve miles from the nearest water. Once, on his way to draw
water, he was tired out. So he said, 'Why suffer this? I
will come and live by the spring.' As soon as he said this, he turned
round and saw a man following him and counting his steps. He
asked him, 'Who are you? He said, 'I am an angel of the Lord,
sent to count your steps and reward you.' When the hermit heard this,
his resolve was strengthed, and he moved his cell five miles further
from the spring.'
June 11, 2023
(Joh 6:48-51) I am the bread of life.
Your fathers did eat manna in the desert: and are dead. This is the
bread which cometh down from heaven: that if any man eat of it, he may
not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. (6:52) If
any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I
will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.
ST. POPE JOHN PAUL II:
"In this gift Jesus Christ entrusted to his Church the perennial making
present of the paschal mystery. With it he brought about a mysterious
“oneness in time” between that Triduum and the passage of the
centuries".
CNA: Corpus Christi Sunday 2023: Inspiring words from the saints about the Eucharist
ALETEIA: The Eucharistic miracle of Daroca that led to the conquest of the Moors
THE CATHOLIC THING: Making the Lord’s Knocking Audible excerpt homily by Pope Benedict XVI (Feast of Corpus Christi, 2007)
Corpus Christi. . .is a unique feast and constitutes an important
encounter of faith and praise for every Christian community. This feast
originated in a specific historical and cultural context: it was born
for the very precise purpose of openly reaffirming the faith of the
People of God in Jesus Christ, alive and truly present in the Most Holy
Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is a feast that was established in order
to publicly adore, praise and thank the Lord, who continues “to love us
‘to the end,’ even to offering us his body and his blood.” (Sacramentum
Caritatis, note 1)
Corpus Christi is thus a renewal of the mystery of Holy Thursday, as it
were, in obedience to Jesus’ invitation to proclaim from “the
housetops” what he told us in secret (see Matthew 10: 27). It was the
Apostles who received the gift of the Eucharist from the Lord in the
intimacy of the Last Supper, but it was destined for all, for the whole
world.
This is why it should be proclaimed and exposed to view: so that each
one may encounter “Jesus who passes” as happened on the roads of
Galilee, Samaria and Judea; in order that each one, in receiving it,
may be healed and renewed by the power of his love. Dear friends, this
is the perpetual and living heritage that Jesus has bequeathed to us in
the Sacrament of his Body and his Blood.
Precisely because this is a mysterious reality that surpasses our
understanding, we must not be surprised if today too many find it hard
to accept the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It cannot be
otherwise. This is how it has been since the day when, in the synagogue
at Capernaum, Jesus openly declared that he had come to give us his
flesh and his blood as food. (see John 6: 26-58)
This seemed “a hard saying” and many of his disciples withdrew when
they heard it. Then, as now, the Eucharist remains a “sign of
contradiction” and can only be so because a God who makes himself flesh
and sacrifices himself for the life of the world throws human wisdom
into crisis.
However, with humble trust, the Church makes the faith of Peter and the
other Apostles her own and proclaims with them, and we proclaim: “Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6: 68)
Let us too renew this evening our profession of faith in Christ, alive
and present in the Eucharist. Yes, “this [is] the truth each Christian
learns, / bread into his flesh he turns, / to his precious blood the
wine.”
Like the manna for the people of Israel, for every Christian generation
the Eucharist is the indispensable nourishment that sustains them as
they cross the desert of this world, parched by the ideological and
economic systems that do not promote life but rather humiliate it. It
is a world where the logic of power and possessions prevails rather
than that of service and love; a world where the culture of violence
and death is frequently triumphant.
Yet Jesus comes to meet us and imbues us with certainty: he himself is
“the Bread of life.” (John 6: 35, 48) He repeated this to us in the
words of the Gospel Acclamation: “I am the living bread from Heaven, if
anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” (see John 6: 51)
St Luke, narrating the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves
and two fish with which Jesus fed the multitude “in a lonely place,”
concludes with the words: “And all ate and were satisfied.” (see Luke
9: 11-17)
I would like in the first place to emphasize this “all.” Indeed, the
Lord desired every human being to be nourished by the Eucharist,
because the Eucharist is for everyone.
If the close relationship between the Last Supper and the mystery of
Jesus’ death on the Cross is emphasized on Holy Thursday, today, the
Feast of Corpus Christi, with the procession and unanimous adoration of
the Eucharist, attention is called to the fact that Christ sacrificed
himself for all humanity. His passing among the houses and along the
streets of our city will be for those who live there an offering of
joy, eternal life, peace and love.
In the Gospel passage, a second element catches one’s eye: the miracle
worked by the Lord contains an explicit invitation to each person to
make his own contribution. The two fish and five loaves signify our
contribution, poor but necessary, which he transforms into a gift of
love for all.
At the end of the Eucharistic celebration we will join in the
procession as if to carry the Lord Jesus in spirit through all the
streets and neighborhoods of Rome. We will immerse him, so to speak, in
the daily routine of our lives, so that he may walk where we walk and
live where we live.
Indeed we know, as the Apostle Paul reminded us in his Letter to the
Corinthians, that in every Eucharist, also in the Eucharist this
evening, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (see 1
Corinthians 11: 26) We travel on the highways of the world knowing that
he is beside us, supported by the hope of being able to see him one day
face to face, in the definitive encounter.
In the meantime, let us listen to his voice repeat, as we read in the
Book of Revelation, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone
hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with
him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
The Feast of Corpus Christi wants to make the Lord’s knocking audible,
despite the hardness of our interior hearing. Jesus knocks at the door
of our heart and asks to enter not only for the space of a day but
forever.
BISHOP ROBERT BARRON:
So what do we do? If we stand in the great Catholic tradition, we honor
these mysterious and wonderful words of Jesus. We resist all attempts
to soften them or explain them away or make them easier to swallow. We
affirm, with all of our hearts, the doctrine of the Real Presence.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
30. A brother said to a hermit, 'My
thoughts wander, and I am troubled.' He answered, 'Go on sitting in
your cell, and your thoughts will come back from their wanderings. If a
she-ass is tethered, her foal skips and gambols all round her but
always comes back to the mother. It is like that for anyone who for
God's sake sits patiently in his cell. Though his thoughts wander for a
time, they will come back to Him again.'
June 9, 2023
(2Pe 3:8-10) But of this one thing be
not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord delayeth not his
promise, as some imagine, but dealeth patiently for your sake, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance,
But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens
shall pass away with great violence and the elements shall be melted
with heat and the earth and the works which are in it shall be burnt up.
ORTHODOX JOURNAL: Fr. Seraphim Rose and the Signs of the Times Part I and Part II
CATHOLIC-LINK.ORG: The End Times: The Great Warning And Illumination Of Conscience by Fr. George Elliott
SIGN.ORG: How Long O Lord? by Rev. Joseph M. Esper
Waiting in Hope When Prophesied Events Are Seemingly Delayed
An often-overlooked but timely scene from the Book of Revelation
relates how the souls of those righteous persons martyred during the
Great Tribulation will, from beneath the altar of God, cry out, asking
when their blood would be avenged through the exercise of Divine
Judgment. The passage tells us that in response, “Each of them was
given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while
longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and
brothers who were going to be killed as they had been” (6:11). This cry
for justice and vindication, along with the common human tendency
toward impatience, echoes an important Old Testament theme.
In Psalm 13, for instance, the
biblical author laments, “How long, O Lord? Will You utterly forget me?
How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I harbor
sorrow in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? How long will my
enemies triumph over me? Look, answer me, O Lord, my God!” (verses
2-4). Similar heartfelt cries are found in Psalm 74:10-11 (a prayer in
time of national calamity), Psalm 94:3-4, and in Psalm 69:3, in which
the psalmist complains, “I am wearied with calling, my throat is
parched; my eyes have failed with looking for my God.” Furthermore, the
prophet Jeremiah states with dismay, “We wait for peace to no avail;
for a time of healing, but terror comes instead” (8:15). Other such
appeals for divine assistance are found in the Books of Daniel (9:19),
Isaiah (33:2), Lamentations (5:20), and elsewhere.
Those faithful Catholics today who
are aware of the “signs of the times” can easily understand—and perhaps
identify with—these biblical expressions of confusion and doubt over
the apparent delay in the fulfillment of many prophecies supposedly
given about our own age. We know, based on the words of numerous
alleged visionaries and other heavenly messengers, along with the
evidence we see with our own eyes, that this world is seriously
disordered—indeed, in a state of rebellion against Almighty God—and
that the current state of affairs cannot go on indefinitely. We’ve
heard or read about a coming time of societal unrest and disruption,
with various chastisements or punishments for humanity’s sins,
including natural disasters, the possibility of economic collapse,
famine, martial law, war, political repression, and the eventual need
for the True Church to go underground during a time of schism and
religious persecution. Beyond that, we’re waiting for the events
prophesied at Garabandal and elsewhere: the Warning, the Miracle, and
the Great Chastisement (in whatever form it may take), finally followed
by the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the arrival of the
Era of Peace.
Some of us have been expecting and
preparing for these events for many years now, and we can’t help but
wonder: why are they delayed? Are the prophecies foretelling them false
or mistaken, or has something happened to invalidate them? Is a
still-unrecognized spiritual renewal finally underway in response to
these heavenly warnings, negating the urgency of Divine Judgment? Is
the moral condition of the world actually improving? Few would argue
this to be the case—but we’re then left with the question of why
nothing seems to be happening.
Catholics who try to warn their
loved ones of the need to repent before judgment arrives often end up
looking foolish or being considered fanatical alarmists; priests who
try to prepare their people for what’s coming (often at the risk of
being rebuked, disciplined, or otherwise restricted by their bishops)
may succeed only in undermining their own credibility and authority;
authentic visionaries and locutionists receiving dire heavenly warnings
may find themselves sharing the frustrations of the much- maligned
prophet Jeremiah (20:7-10), whose messages were largely rejected by his
contemporaries.
In their efforts to know and do the
will of God, some people have in effect put their lives on hold,
passing up opportunities for new homes or jobs, forgoing vacations and
other family activities, and making their experience of life less
enjoyable and more difficult than would otherwise have been the case.
Those who’ve made what they thought were prudent material
preparations—such as storing emergency food, water, and other supplies
(including Mass kits and other religious articles) and perhaps even
purchasing property in remote areas as possible places of refuge—may be
tempted to wonder if their efforts and investment will prove to be
unnecessary or wasted.
Why is there an apparent delay in
all that’s been prophesied? How long will this delay continue, and how
are we supposed to respond to it?
Chronos versus Kairos
The ancient Greek language—the language in which much of the New
Testament was written—had two different words for time. Chronos refers
to measurable time: days, weeks, months, and years; it’s the origin of
our words chronology and chronicles, meaning an orderly (and sometimes
predictable) timeline. A parent who says, “My son will be graduating
from high school a year from this spring” is using chronos.
Kairos is something different; it
means “the appointed time” or “the proper moment.” This type of time is
measured not by the calendar, but by the completion or fulfillment of
certain conditions or events. If a child asks “When can I get my own
smartphone like all my friends?”, the parent who responds “When you’re
ready” (i.e., “When I think you’re mature enough,” or “When I think
you’ve earned it or can be trusted with it”) is using kairos. The
arrival of this moment cannot be easily predicted; it’s almost
something of a “moving target” contingent on other events or conditions
that may or may not occur.
Most biblical prophecy is rooted in
kairos, as is most private revelation. (Indeed, while the Church is
prudent or cautious about all alleged heavenly messages, it especially
tends to view with suspicion those prophecies giving specific dates
when events will supposedly take place). The problem in making sense of
what is and isn’t happening in the world is that we human beings tend
to think in terms of chronos; as the years pass without any major or
dramatic changes to our world and to our lives, we wonder about the
“delay”— while from Heaven’s viewpoint, God’s plan of salvation
continues unfolding, and the prophesied events are on schedule.
Biblical Insights on God’s Timing
This is the context for understanding several important scriptural
passages on the necessity of waiting for the unfolding of the divine
plan. For instance, the Lord addressed the prophet Ezekiel:
Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel:
“The days drag on, and no vision
ever comes to anything?” Say to them therefore: Thus says the Lord God:
I will put an end to this proverb; they shall never quote it again in
Israel. Rather, say to them:
The days are at hand, and also the
fulfillment of every vision. Whatever I speak is final, and it shall be
done without further delay . . . . Son of man, listen to the house of
Israel saying, “The vision he sees is a long way off; he prophesies of
the distant future!” Say to them therefore: Thus says the Lord God:
None of My words shall be delayed any longer; whatever I speak is
final, and it shall be done . . . (12:21-25, 28).
A similar message on divine timing
was given to the prophet Habakkuk, who was told by the Lord, “Write
down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it
readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment,
and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely
come, it will not be late” (2:2-3).
This description of a reliable
heavenly timetable is further developed in the New Testament; in
particular, the 2nd Letter of St . Peter instructs us, Do not ignore
this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand
years and a thousand years are like one day . The Lord does not delay
His promise, as some regard “delay,” but He is patient with you, not
wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance
(3:8-9).
Thus, we see that divine “patience”
is ordered to salvation: God wants to give sinners every possible
chance to repent before they experience the fullness of His justice.
Scripture asserts that after a time
set aside for repentance, the Lord will indeed overthrow all wickedness
and vindicate those who remained faithful to Him. As we’re told, “See,
the day of the Lord! See, the end is coming! Lawlessness is in full
bloom, insolence flourishes, violence has risen to support wickedness.
It [God’s intervention] shall not be long in coming, nor shall it
delay” (Ezek . 7:10-11) . This idea is echoed in the New Testament
Letter to the Hebrews:
Do not throw away your confidence;
it will have great recompense. You need endurance to do the will of God
and receive what He has promised. For, after just a brief moment, He
Who is to come shall come; He shall not delay. But My just one shall
live by faith, and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him. We are
not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have
faith and will possess life (10:35-39).
If faith is “evidence of things not
seen” (Heb . 11:1), choosing to continue trusting in God’s promises,
even when their fulfillment seems distant and uncertain, is surely very
pleasing to the Lord.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
28. A hermit was asked by a brother
why, when he stayed in his cell, he suffered boredom. He answered, "You
have not yet seen the resurrection for which we hope, nor the torment
of fire. If you had seen these, then you would bear your cell without
boredom even if it was filled with worms and you were standing in them
up to your neck.'
June 7, 2023
(1Jn 4:7-9) Beloved, let us
love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born
of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God,
because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among
us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live
through him.
MYSTICS OF THE CHURCH: Saint Charbel Makhlouf–The Maronite Monk
LEBANON REPORT: Looking to St. Charbel
“Before the beginning there was love. Through it, everything was
created from all eternity; without it, nothing would have existed. From
the very beginning love existed, which is the foundation of the
universe, the law, and the end of all things. Apart from love, nothing
will remain, everything will perish… Man is fulfilled only through
love; he attains the truth only in God. He belongs to God, because he
is the son of love, the son of God, and his true dwelling is in God.”
—opening words of a homily entitled “Christ is the Truth of Incarnate
Love” by St. Charbel Makhlouf (1828-1898)
And You Will Achieve the End for Which You Were Created by St. Charbel Makhlouf
Why do human beings have to descend when the path of the Lord ascends?
People are loaded down with many burdens that bend their back so much
that their foreheads touch the ground, preventing them from standing up
and raising their heads to see the face of God.
They try to liberate themselves from them; everyone gets rid of them
only to load themselves down in other ways, and finally they find
themselves weighed down with even heavier burdens.
Jesus Christ is the only one capable of liberating all human beings
from their burdens for a slave cannot set another slave free.
A human being is born tied up with cords and bound with chains to which
he becomes accustomed throughout his life. Many are those who die
without being freed from them. People get used to their chains. They
cherish them as though they were an integral part of themselves so that
it becomes difficult for them to set themselves free of them.
Their gleaming chains dazzle their eyes so that they no longer see the
Lord’s face. Their deafening racket prevents them from hearing His
voice. They are so proud of the brilliance of their fetters and of
their clanking that they cherish them. The chains may well gleam, but
they are nonetheless alienating.
Instead of polishing them, break them. Instead of making music with them, unfasten them so as to free yourself from them.
The Lord suffers to see the people for whom He was made flesh, died,
and rose again in order to give them life and eternal happiness,
chained up and seeking their happiness where they will not find it.
Your happiness in this world is not of this world, for if you were of
this world you would have remained in it. Your happiness does not lie
in material goods, for they will not procure it for you. Why do men run
about seeking gold? A human being is much more valuable than gold! He
is the son of God and his value is in himself. Gold does not liberate a
human being from his attachments; it only makes them more splendid.
Your happiness does not come from men who cannot offer it to you,
because they do not possess it, and because no one can give what does
not belong to him. Jesus alone is able to give you true happiness.
Only human beings live between asphalt and concrete. Their minds become
blackened like asphalt, and their hearts harden like concrete. Their
intellects produce only dark ideas, and their souls become empty of any
love. Human beings are like an inert, soulless matter, and some of them
resemble stones.
Proud as they are, they stubbornly seek happiness in sin, which causes
them nothing but worry, sadness, misery, and emptiness. They have
become proud with regard to themselves, towards one another, and
towards God.
Do you not realize that the Lord is able to reduce them to dust in an
instant? But the love of our God is great. He loves human beings with
an unending love because they are his sons and daughters. He wanted
them to be the light of the world, in his image.
[End, Homily of St. Charbel]
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
26.
A hermit said, 'Our predecessors were reluctant to move from place to
place, except perhaps for three reasons: first, if a man was angry with
them and no amount of satisfaction would calm him down; secondly, if
many praised them; and thirdly, if they wre tempted to lust.'
June 5, 2023
(Isa 5:20-21) Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put
darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet,
and sweet for bitter. Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes, and
prudent in your own conceits.
VICTIMS OF ABORTION: Broken Branches Newsletter Issue 155 – April/May 2023
EDITORIAL: In the abortion debate, it’s the pro-lifers who have science on their side
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: His Body, His Choice: Abortion, politics, and our Communion crisis
NEW DAILY COMPASS: Pro-abortion superheroes, evil masquerading as good
Members of the
International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the world's largest
pro-abortion organisation are only capable of giving birth to - since
childbirth is their worst enemy – the worst ideas. In order to
publicise abortion they have now come up with a campaign in which there
are six superheroes committed to spreading the abortion word around the
world, that is fighting the enemies of life. These superheroes are
called Repro Heroes,
that is, superheroes of safe reproduction. Translated: abortion,
contraception, and sterilisation. There is even a quiz to find out
which superhero you are.
The IPPF portal declares:
“Repro Heroes are champions of sexual and reproductive health and
rights. Fierce and fearless, you can find them on the frontlines of the
fight for safe abortion care, championing climate justice, defending
women's rights and advocating for pleasure-centered sexual health.
[sic!] The Repro Heroes have unique superpowers to help propel the
fight for equality and rights”.
Let’s review the characteristics of these six free- abortion superheroes.
Inaya (superpower: instant healing) provides “life-saving sexual and
reproductive health care” to those harmed by man-made natural
disasters. Kunyaza (superpower: can assume any gender identity) is
“gender fluid”, teaches that pleasure is paramount in sex. Aina
(superpower: precognition) is an environmentalist and fights against
“land grabbers and extractive industries”. Being able to predict the
future, she uses this ability to draw up plans for the spread of
abortion in the coming years. Valentina (superpower: flight) argues
that “abortion is a health cure. Full stop”. She challenges the
“conservative legislators” in Latin America who oppose abortion. Aizha
(superpower: supersonic voice) aims to involve young people in
pro-choice political campaigns. Zofia (superpower: telepathy) fights
against “extreme right-wing movements” and uses her superpower to “read
and examine the minds of potential human rights violators”.
It’s easy to comment that once superheroes fought evil
to make good triumph while now Repro Heroes do the opposite; that once
Superman and Spider-Man saved lives while now Zofia and co snuff them
out. However, if you look more closely, there is more. Behind this new
gimmick of the pro-choice front lies, albeit perhaps unconsciously, an
epic vision of the struggle for the 'new' civil rights. The narrative
is as follows. There are certain minorities that must be protected:
women who want abortions, homo- and transsexual people, women and
people of colour, and endangered ecosystems. Conversely, there are the
enemies of these fragile social classes: the Catholics, the pro-life
and pro-family, the sovereigntists, the conservatives, the fascists,
the Caucasian males. It used to be revolutionaries who came to lead the
battles for the liberation of these poor people. Now there are
superheroes. The IPPF and similar organisations, liberalist and
progressive governments, the UN and its agencies, NGOs, environmental
lobbies, the likes of Soros and Gates with their foundations, Levantine
newspapers and publishing houses, progressive Catholics and theologians
present themselves as superheroes defending the weak from the abuses of
those who oppose the advance of all things new.
The narrative is obviously a mystification,
but it does contain an element of truth: the existence of superpowers.
The aforementioned new superheroes are endowed with astounding
financial means, immense and universal political powers, and a monopoly
on culture in schools, universities, the scientific world, publishing,
the arts, the media, social media, and the world of fashion.
Having said all this, Catholics can rest easy.
Their Superhero has far greater superpowers than his adversaries and
above all he has already vanquished the powers of evil once and for
all. Inaya and Kunyaza included.
LIFE NEWS HEADLINES
Abortions in Scotland highest on record as government considers abortion on demand
Irish Abortion Rates Continue to Spike, 5 Years After Abortion Referendum
Priest: 2 elderly Catholics ‘viciously’ assaulted outside Baltimore Planned Parenthood
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
25. In the desert some people came to a great hermit and said 'How can
you be content here with this severe way of life?' The hermit replied,
'All the severity of my life here cannot compare with a day of the
torment prepared for sinners in the next world.'
June 1, 2023
(2Th 2:15) Therefore, brethren, stand fast: and hold the traditions, which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle.
REGINA PROPHETARUM: Hijacking the Work of the Spirit
The Spirit of God Who is so close to us…Who guides Holy Church and
reminds her of what the Lord taught His Apostles…is often misused and
even abused. Like Montanus of old, some have hijacked the work of the
Spirit and have falsely claimed that a new Spirit of Revolution is
blowing and breathing upon the Upper Room of the Church. And so we hear
catch phrases such as the Spirit of the Council which opens up a
pandora’s box of possible changes in Church customs, disciplines, or
even doctrine that can all wrongly be attributed to the Spirit…to the
New Prophecy that arrived in the 1960s.
Behind this “spirit,” though, there’s an underlying dynamic that is far
more radical and dangerous. It’s the idea of ongoing, endless change
untethered from continuity and carrying the Church into an uncharted
future in which the apostolic tradition is consigned to the dustbin of
history while anything goes. Things like female ordination and the
approval of sodomitical unions are merely items on the agenda of
ongoing change. And yes, we are told that the Spirit willed the
modernization in religious life including consecrated sisters without
religious habit…that the Spirit has moved the Church to lessen
discipline…to forego extended fasting and abstinence…that the Spirit
willed liturgical reform…that the Holy Ghost Willed the destruction of
the traditional liturgies, the most ancient, substantially unchanged
rituals in the history of the Church and gave us instead the Novus Ordo
liturgies complete with all the liturgical rupture. The lex orandi -
the unique law of prayer of the Church no longer includes the old
rites, for the Spirit is always progressing forward and never venturing
backwards.
WORDS ON THE WORD: Pentecost
Anyone who claims to be a bearer of the Spirit, and thus to abide in
Christ, ‘must walk just as he walked’ (1 John 2.6). Else he or she is a
fraud.
Any new melody must harmonise with
the Keynote that is from everlasting, otherwise it is but a noisy gong
and a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13.1). Today the Lord gives us his
Spirit by which he would renew the face of the earth.
May we, then, be renewed as human
beings and become true Christians, messengers of Christ’s hope to the
world. And may our devout, noble undertaking find credible expression
in our lives. Amen.
ALETEIA: Prayer to the Holy Spirit
VIA THE SHIELD OF FAITH: God Cannot Cease to Love You
God cannot cease
to love me. That is the most startling fact that our doctrine reveals.
Sinner or saint, He loves and cannot help Himself. Magdalen in her sin,
Magdalen in her sainthood, was loved by God. The difference in her
position made some difference also in the effect of that love on her,
but the love was the same, since it was the Holy Spirit who is the Love
of the Father and the Son. Whatever I do, I am loved. Then, if I sin, I
am unworthy of love? Yes, but I am unworthy always. He cannot love me
for what I am, since in that case I should compel His love and force
His will by something external to Himself.
In fact, really, if I consider, I should find that I was not loved by
God because I was good, but that I was good because God loved me. My
improvement does not cause God to love me, but is the effect of God
loving me. Consequently, even when I am punished by God, He cannot hate
me. It is His very love itself that drives Him (out of the very nature
of its perfection) to punish. So, Dante spoke truly when he imagined
over the portals of Hell the inscription: “To rear me was the work of
Immortal Power and Love.”
Each of us is, therefore, sure that he is loved eternally and that
God’s love can suffer no change from God’s side. How, then, is it that
we grow evil, or lose the familiar intercourse that we once had with
Him? It is because He has given us the terrible power of erecting, as
it were, a shield between ourselves and His love. He loves forever the
same, but it is we who, by our sins, have the power to shut off that
love from effecting anything good in our souls.
As I was deep in His love when I was a child, so also does He love me now.
Link to the full e-booklet: https://servi.org/weekly-featured-ebooklet/
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Fortitude
23. A hermit said 'We do not make progress because we do not realize
how much we can do. We lose interest in the work we have begun,
and we want to be good without even trying.'
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