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by Molly Sheckler
Imposition of Ashes - Brent Rollings
Ashes to Ashes – Remember O Man That Thou Art Dust
Category Archives: Culture
Lent – Refresh Your Soul
From the Discourses against the Arians by Saint Athanasius, bishop (Oratio 2, 78. 81-82: PG 26, 311. 319)
We know the Father through creative and incarnate Wisdom
The only-begotten Son, the Wisdom of God, created the entire universe. Scripture says: You have made all things by your wisdom, and the earth is full of your creatures. Yet simply to be was not enough: God also wanted his creatures to be good. That is why he was pleased that his own wisdom should descend to their level and impress upon each of them singly and upon all of them together a certain resemblance to their Model. It would then be manifest that Gods creatures shared in his wisdom and that his works were worthy of him.
For as the word we speak is an image of the Word who is Gods Son, so also is the wisdom implanted in us an image of the Wisdom who is Gods Son. It gives us the ability to know and understand and so makes us capable of receiving him who is all-creative Wisdom, through whom we can come to know the Father. Whoever has the Son has the Father also, Scripture says, and Whoever receives me receives the One who sent me. And so, since this image of the Wisdom of God has been produced in us and in all creatures, the true and creative Wisdom rightly takes to himself what applies to his image and says: The Lord created me in his works.
But because the world was not wise enough to recognize God in his wisdom, as we have explained it, God determined to save those who believe by means of the foolish message that we preach. Not wishing to be known any longer, as in former times, through the mere image and shadow of his wisdom existing in creatures, he caused the true Wisdom himself to take flesh, to become man, and to suffer death on the cross so that all who believed in him might be saved by faith.
Yet this was the same Wisdom of God who had in the beginning revealed himself and his Father through himself by means of his image in creatures (which is why Wisdom to is said to be created). Later, as John declares, that Wisdom, who is also the Word, became flesh, and after destroying the power of death and saving our race, he revealed himself and his Father through himself with greater clarity. Grant, he prayed, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. So now the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of God, since it is one and the same thing to know the Father through the Son, and to know the Son who comes from the Father. The Father rejoices in his Son, and with the same joy the Son delights in the Father and says: I was his joy; every day I took delight in his presence.
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Ash Wednesday – Lent – God’s Open Heart
From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope
(Cap. 7, 48, 3; 8, 59, 1; 13, 1-4; 19, 2: Funk 1, 71-73. 77-78. 87) Repent
Let us fix our attention on the blood of Christ and recognize how precious it is to God his Father, since it was shed for our salvation and brought the grace of repentance to all the world.
If we review the various ages of history, we will see that in every generation the Lord has offered the opportunity of repentance to any who were willing to turn to him. When Noah preached Gods message of repentance, all who listened to him were saved. Jonah told the Ninevites they were going to be destroyed, but when they repented, their prayers gained Gods forgiveness for their sins, and they were saved, even though they were not of Gods people.
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the ministers of Gods grace have spoken of repentance; indeed, the Master of the whole universe himself spoke of repentance with an oath: As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the death of the sinner but his repentance. He added this evidence of his goodness: House of Israel, repent of your wickedness. Tell the sons of my people: If their sins should reach from earth to heaven, if they are brighter than scarlet and blacker than sackcloth, you need only turn to me with your whole heart and say, Father, and I will listen to you as a holy people.
In other words, God wanted all his beloved ones to have the opportunity to repent and he confirmed this desire by his own almighty will. That is why we should obey his sovereign and glorious will and prayerfully entreat his mercy and kindness. We should be suppliant before him and turn to his compassion, rejecting empty works and quarrelling and jealousy which only lead to death.
Brothers, we should be humble in mind, putting aside all arrogance, pride and foolish anger. Rather, we should act in accordance with the Scriptures, as the Holy Spirit says: The wise man must not glory in his wisdom nor the strong man in his strength nor the rich man in his riches. Rather, let him who glories glory in the Lord by seeking him and doing what is right and just. Recall especially what the Lord Jesus said when he taught gentleness and forbearance. Be merciful, he said, so that you may have mercy shown to you. Forgive, so that you may be forgiven. As you treat others, so you will be treated. As you give, so you will receive. As you judge, so you will be judged. As you are kind to others, so you will be treated kindly. The measure of your giving will be the measure of your receiving. Let these commandments and precepts strengthen us to live in humble obedience to his sacred words. As Scripture asks: Whom shall I look upon with favor except the humble, peaceful man who trembles at my words?
Sharing then in the heritage of so many vast and glorious achievements, let us hasten toward the goal of peace, set before us from the beginning. Let us keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Father and Creator of the whole universe, and hold fast to his splendid and transcendent gifts of peace and all his blessings.
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Truth of Pope Pius XII’s Saving Actions
Pave the Way Foundation gathers the documents, and interviews the living witnesses in the saving efforts against Hitler that saved hundreds of thousands of Jews during Hitler’s reign of terror and extermination. Until 1963 Pope Pius XII was held in high esteems by the world, honored by Jew for his contributions to saving Jewish families and communities. With the play by Rolf Hochhuth, The Deputy, the lie was told and grew along with the defamation of Pope Pius XII, who in actuality labored behind the scenes on behalf of the Jewish People.
Our Lady of Lourdes – “I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION”
Narrated by Mariola Paini
In 1858 the virgin Mary Immaculate appeared to Bernadette Soubirous near Lourdes in France within the cave of Massabielle. Through this humble girl, Mary called sinners to conversion and enkindled within the Church a great zeal for prayer and charity, especially service to the sick and poor. From a letter by Saint Marie Bernadette Soubirous, virgin (Ep. ad P. Gondrand, a 1861: cf. A. Ravier, Les écrits de sainte Bernadette, Paris 1961, pp. 53-59) The lady spoke to me I had gone down one day with two other girls to the bank of the river Gave when suddenly I heard a kind of rustling sound. I turned my head toward the field by the side of the river but the trees seemed quite still and the noise was evidently not from them. Then I looked up and caught sight of the cave where I saw a lady wearing a lovely white dress with a bright belt. On top of each of her feet was a pale yellow rose, the same color as her rosary beads. At this I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was seeing things, and I put my hands into the fold of my dress where my rosary was. I wanted to make the sign of the cross but for the life of me I couldn’t manage it and my hand just fell down. Then the lady made the sign of the cross herself and at the second attempt I managed to do the same, though my hands were trembling. Then I began to say the rosary while the lady let her beads slip through her fingers, without moving her lips. When I stopped saying the Hail Mary, she immediately vanished. I asked my two companions if they had noticed anything, but they said no. Of course they wanted to know what I was doing and I told them that I had seen a lady wearing a nice white dress, though I didn’t know who she was. I told them not to say anything about it, and they said I was silly to have anything to do with it. I said they were wrong and I came back next Sunday, feeling myself drawn to the place…. The third time I went the lady spoke to me and asked me to come every day for fifteen days. I said I would and then she said that she wanted me to tell the priests to build a chapel there. She also told me to drink from the stream. I went to the Gave, the only stream I could see. Then she made me realize she was not speaking of the Gave and she indicated a little trickle of water close-by. When I got to it I could only find a few drops, mostly mud. I cupped my hands to catch some liquid without success and then I started to scrape the ground. I managed to find a few drops of water but only at the fourth attempt was there a sufficient amount for any kind of drink. The lady then vanished and I went back home. I went back each day for fifteen days and each time, except one Monday and one Friday, the lady appeared and told me to look for a stream and wash in it and to see that the priests build a chapel there. I must also pray, she said, for the conversion of sinners. I asked her many times what she meant by that, but she only smiled. Finally with outstretched arms and eyes looking up to heaven she told me she was the Immaculate Conception. During the fifteen days she told me three secrets but I was not to speak about them to anyone and so far I have not. This letter from St. Bernadette (linked above) is from the Office of Readings for this day. I put this letter here because the language in which she speaks of Mary’s apparitions is that of a child. Dear Bernadette was young and poor when The Blessed Mother appeared to her. She aspired only a simple life, was not overly bright, and it would seem that she was incapable of greatness by this world’s standards. Yet, the Blessed Mother appeared to her, and spoke to her kindly and gave her gentle instructions. When Bernadette first saw Our Lady, she did not immediately identify her. She saw, rather, a beautiful woman. In fact, she did not presume to admit that the lady was the Blessed Mother until she was told by the lady herself. Mary called herself the Immaculate Conception, a true expression of beauty. Mary’s message to Bernadette was simple and caring, like that of a Mother. Bernadette, although not great, was a saint of blessings and virtue. Mary chose to appear to her and laid upon her shoulders the charge of sharing Mary with others. Bernadette did not live a very long life… but it was one of patient suffering and hope for the world to come. “I cannot promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next” was the promise of the Blessed Mother to her daughter. Bernadette trusted in this promise, with that childlike faith and obedience that were so exemplary in her visits with Mary. This is an example of how Mary is a mother to us. Her apparitions to her gentle daughter Bernadette brings us a message of prayer and healing. Each time that Mary has visited us, she has come with the same tender love and caring. Let us always remember how deeply Mary loves us, how intimate she is with Jesus, and seek to follow her Motherly guidance and receive her consolation.
A Letter of Saint Marie Bernadette Soubirou
God of mercy,
we celebrate the feast of Mary,
the sinless mother of God.
May her prayers help us
to rise above our human weakness.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.
No Proof – No God?
Continuing the theme: being “amazed how people can have core beliefs with no proof behind them?”
A response:
And amazed you should be! Seems you use that amazing brain of yours to go well beyond the five senses (you depend on for proof.) Proof, though, deals with measures. You can’t measure wonder, hope, compassion, mercy and forgiveness but you can experience them. (I forgot love.)
The response to my response:
What is it that makes you base your beliefs on the Catholic ideas rather than Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Scientologist, etc? I think they all have explanations for what’s immeasurable. Is that where the hope comes in? Just pick one and hope the others are wrong?
Amazed someone was actually asking, I got carried away:
Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, all reflect experience of this life and contain much that is true. God is not limited to speaking to Catholics. People of all faiths seek and listen for Him. However, the act of seeking and listening doesn’t make everything we image or conclude true. I think many people will except only what doesn’t conflict with their wills and desires. Truth is not relative, however. It simply is. One belief is not as good as any other. Having an explanation doesn’t make the explanation true. For instance, Hindu pantheism saying that everything is one and everything is God; God being a force, impersonal and pervading everything throughout the universe. In fact, the universe is God. That makes God part of the material world, which obviously means He can not be spiritual in his entirety.He must share our material imperfections. He’s now subject to change. Now he possesses something. Now, he doesn’t. “Not very Godly,” I’m thinking. In fact, very limited in space and therefore not all-present. Makes it very difficult to call the Hindu idea of god, God. He’s part matter and therefore made up of parts. The Hindu God is described as impersonal making Him not a person. I am a person and possess person-hood which the Hindu God does not. I’m now one up on their idea of god. I am a person precisely because I have spiritual substance, soul. I have immaterial thoughts and like you deal with, manipulate and generate thoughts every moment of consciousness. Yet the Hindu god in not conscious, just pervasive nothingness. You can believe this if you like, but then you have to reject other ideas that contradict it. Can’t all be true, even with the best, most broadminded, intentions. Disregarding logic makes it easier; enter pop-culture, pop-everything; not well thought out, just popular for a time. It works for awhile, but there’s still that elephant in the room-the Four Last Things.
Bringing up Death is an appeal of sorts for a need to survive, even if it only in memory or our work, our art, our writings, etc. Probably not the smartest argument to make for as Dinesh D’Souza writes, quoting Woody Allen, in D’Souza’s book, “Life After Death-the Evidence”:
“I don’t want to achieve immorality through my work. I want to achieve immorality by not dying. I don’t want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen. I want to live on on my apartment.”
Be Holy! 