Category Archives: Culture

Prepared by Repentance -Enabled by Faith

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At Easter, we see the Resurrected Lord and are bathed in the Light of His conquering Love.  The Church places Jesus before the eyes of our hearts.  It is precisely because, only a few days ago, we beheld His pain and suffering, His Love unto Death, that we can grasp the triumph of His Love, this Agape.

Carmel is a reminder that Love  must be lived to be authentic.  Not that we can live it with perfection, though that is the Call, but that we try day by day in all humility.  For me, it is always beginning anew.  Repentance prepares us and faith enables us.

The Secular Carmelites share in Meditations from Carnel the words of  Pere Jacques:

“We are at Carmel only for this:  to love!
To love, of course, requires that we give proof of our love.  This love expresses itself in constant prayer.  I say “constant,” because this state of prayer must be our life not for only two hours a day, but all day long.  Our life must be a constant, silent prayer that rises unceasingly to God.  That is what constitutes our duty in life.
We must not confuse this state of prayer with religious sentimentality, or with pious feelings unrelated to authentic prayer, which can sometimes be piercingly painful.  That love, which is our life’s duty, must express itself in vibrant, zealous deeds, all aspects of which compel our careful consideration.
Only with deepest humility can we recognize how far we are from our goal.  Only those souls who have attained a lofty level of holiness can truly acknowledge how far they still are from their total fulfillment.  For example, the Cure of Ars considered himself more wretched than the notorious sinners to whom he ministered.  He realized that many of these fallen souls, had they received the same graces that he had received, would perhaps surpass him in holiness.  Only with humility can we recognize the torpor of our love.
Prayer is our primary duty.  Prayer is the reason why God has placed us on earth.  We learn truly to prayer, when we are in the presence and company of Christ.  Therefore, we must contemplate Christ for long periods of a time and seek him our persistently.  Consider those closest to Christ.  Saint John the Apostle grasped what was indispensable for a clear understanding of his master.  John never tired of probing and querying Christ.  We can see how John thus gained richer insights and fuller explanations, precisely because he went to the bother of approaching and asking Christ to clarify each day’s lesson.  I picture John, walking close behind Christ, as he made his way about the Holy Land.  Thus, John came to gain a wealth of intimate knowledge, which the other apostles did not acquire.  Herein lies the explanation for the special character of the fourth Gospel.  While the other apostles traveled across the then known world on their missionary journeys, John’s unique apostolate was to remain close to the Virgin Mary, whom Christ had entrusted to him.  Thus were these two great souls conjoined in love and prayer”.
In silent solitude, let us seek to realize that we truly can be in contact with God.  It is God whom we should aim to encounter in prayer.  It is God who is both the breath and the fulfillment of our life.  Amen.”

Rejoicing Around the Web

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Linking the rejoicing (For a change the good news is winning…):

An Ed Morrisey favorite Roll Away the Stone

Happy Catholic says Joyful, Joyful with art and attitude

In Egypt, the rejoicing takes a turn that is a reminder of the Four Last Things , Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell, with the unearthing of “some of the most beautiful” ancient painted linen-wrapped mummies still brightly colored after some 2900 or so years. Reminded me of Fr. Corapi saying, “At the end….. at the very end.. everyone will be in either Heaven or Hell!”

Between now and Mercy Sunday we can make a real difference. Pray, pray,pray!

He is Risen! – Alleluia!

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Happy Easter Everyone!  Alleluia!

Homily of Pope Benedict XVI  – Easter Sunday 2009

“Christ, our Paschal lamb, has been sacrificed!” (1 Cor 5:7).  On this day, Saint Paul’s triumphant words ring forth, words that we have just heard in the second reading, taken from his First Letter to the Corinthians.  It is a text which originated barely twenty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and yet – like many Pauline passages – it already contains, in an impressive synthesis, a full awareness of the newness of life in Christ.  The central symbol of salvation history – the Paschal lamb – is here identified with Jesus, who is called “our Paschal lamb”.  The Hebrew Passover, commemorating the liberation from slavery in Egypt, provided for the ritual sacrifice of a lamb every year, one for each family, as prescribed by the Mosaic Law.  In his passion and death, Jesus reveals himself as the Lamb of God, “sacrificed” on the Cross, to take away the sins of the world.  He was killed at the very hour when it was customary to sacrifice the lambs in the Temple of Jerusalem.  The meaning of his sacrifice he himself had anticipated during the Last Supper, substituting himself – under the signs of bread and wine – for the ritual food of the Hebrew Passover meal.  Thus we can truly say that Jesus brought to fulfilment the tradition of the ancient Passover, and transformed it into his Passover.

On the basis of this new meaning of the Paschal feast, we can also understand Saint Paul’s interpretation of the “leaven”.  The Apostle is referring to an ancient Hebrew usage:  according to which, on the occasion of the Passover, it was necessary to remove from the household every tiny scrap of leavened bread.  On the one hand, this served to recall what had happened to their forefathers at the time of the flight from Egypt:  leaving the country in haste, they had brought with them only unleavened bread.  At the same time, though, the “unleavened bread” was a symbol of purification:  removing the old to make space for the new.  Now, Saint Paul explains, this ancient tradition likewise acquires a new meaning, once more derived from the new “Exodus”, which is Jesus’ passage from death to eternal life.  And since Christ, as the true Lamb, sacrificed himself for us, we too, his disciples – thanks to him and through him – can and must be the “new dough”, the “unleavened bread”, liberated from every residual element of the old yeast of sin:  no more evil and wickedness in our heart.

“Let us celebrate the feast … with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”.  This exhortation from Saint Paul, which concludes the short reading that was proclaimed a few moments ago, resounds even more powerfully in the context of the Pauline Year.  Dear brothers and sisters, let us accept the Apostle’s invitation;  let us open our spirit to Christ, who has died and is risen in order to renew us, in order to remove from our hearts the poison of sin and death, and to pour in the life-blood of the Holy Spirit:  divine and eternal life.  In the Easter Sequence, in what seems almost like a response to the Apostle’s words, we sang:  “Scimus Christum surrexisse a mortuis vere” – we know that Christ has truly risen from the dead.  Yes, indeed!  This is the fundamental core of our profession of faith;  this is the cry of victory that unites us all today.  And if Jesus is risen, and is therefore alive, who will ever be able to separate us from him?  Who will ever be able to deprive us of the love of him who has conquered hatred and overcome death?

The Easter proclamation spreads throughout the world with the joyful song of the Alleluia.  Let us sing it with our lips, and let us sing it above all with our hearts and our lives, with a manner of life that is “unleavened”, that is to say, simple, humble, and fruitful in good works.  “Surrexit Christus spes mea:  precedet suos in Galileam” – Christ my hope is risen, and he goes before you into Galilee.  The Risen One goes before us and he accompanies us along the paths of the world.  He is our hope, He is the true peace of the world.  Amen!

Divine Mercy Novena – Day 3

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Divine Mercy Novena

Day 3

“Today bring to Me all Devout and Faithful Souls, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. These souls brought me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were a drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness.” Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your mercy, You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from It. We beg this grace of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely. Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of Your Son. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify Your boundless mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Divine Mercy Novena – Day 2

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Divine Mercy Novena

Day 2


“Today bring to Me the Souls of Priests and Religious, Priests and Religious,
and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind.”

Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service,* that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard — upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.

China, Abortion, Heirs, Kidnapping

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China’s policy of one child per family has left the nation that places a high societal value on sons in a lurch.  Kidnapping is on the rise.

“The thieves often strike at dusk, when children are playing outside and their parents are distracted by exhaustion”…….

“…anecdotal evidence suggests the children do not travel far. Although some are sold to buyers in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, most of the boys are purchased domestically by families desperate for a male heir, parents of abducted children and some law enforcement officials who have investigated the matter say.”