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Sunday 30 November 2014

Alone


God called one man to start the Hebrew Nation-Abraham. Abraham, alone, answered the call and brought his entire family, clan, tribe to God.

Moses faced God in the Burning Bush, alone on Mount Horeb.

God called Samuel, alone, in the middle of the night.

Samuel anointed David, alone with the flocks of his father, 

The great prophets heard God's voice in the loneliness of their rooms, the desert, in a field, or a cave. So God called Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Elijah and the others by name, by themselves.

Daniel heard God alone in his rooms.

Mary encountered Gabriel alone. And, Joseph heard the angel alone in his house.

Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, gave us the example over and over again, of going away from the apostles, the crowds, in order to pray.

The meeting of God and man is personal, and takes place frequently in the loneliness of life.

Our culture demands social interaction. But, unless each one of us is willing to break away from the crowd, God will not be heard.

Loneliness can be, and is mostly, a painful reality for many, but it can be a blessing. To be alone, is not to be alone, for God is always with us.

To be alone is potentially to meet God.

Pay attention in your loneliness, and do not to miss the passing of God into your lives. Remember, that when we die, we meet God alone, and, hopefully, not for the first time.


Good thing...

...I only had one boy. I would have named number two Anselm, number three Bernard, and number four Bramwell. Such a strange name...my son had the entire series of Old Bear books, which included Bramwell. Number five would have been Vaclav, (a family name), number six, Charles, (a family name), number seven, Johannes, (John being a family name), number eight Nicholas, (yet another family name), number nine being Placid, companion to Benedict, number ten coming in with Maxim, short for Maximus the Confessor and last, but not least, Paulinus, after Augustine of Canterbury's companion. If there had been twelve, Jacques would have followed, (not James, for a reason I cannot explain), as long as he was never Jimmy.

Of course, there is no saint Bramwell, but I would have stuck Augustine of Canterbury in there. as his second name. Bramwell Augustine of Canterbury.

I just wanted a cricket "eleven" team at home behind the house, plus one or two to watch with me...sigh. Girls' names coming up next...


Just wondering..

Are any readers inclined to see the new Exodus movie....?

In this day of technological skills in special effects, we are losing, as a culture, the art of acting...and screen writing.


Old but excellent read

http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=08-01-017-f

What I am up against here and in England....been trying to deal with these prayer groups since 2012.

To Listen for Christ in Active Contemplation


If you, dear readers, have ever been in love, you understand this scenario. You go to a large gathering, like the opening of an art show, or a talk, and you know the one you love will be there. You go because you are being true to yourself, and would go whether he or she was going or not going to be there.

Hundreds of people are in the room, talking, moving about, but you are listening, listening for that special voice, the voice of the person you love so much. Now, you almost give up, when, suddenly you hear his or her voice, and see that person out of the corner of your eye across the room. When you hear the voice of the beloved, you experience a thrill of both anticipation and fear. Sometimes, one hears in a peace which passes human understanding. This is the peace of sacrificial love, which expects nothing in return for love. One lets love be love.

If you are a man, you can approach the beloved. If you are a woman, you must wait. Sometimes, the beloved never comes up to you, but you still love, in hope, until the day arrives when no more meetings are possible.

Waiting for God to speak is very much like this scene. One is on a bus, in a restaurant, at a gathering, and suddenly, one hears the Voice of the Beloved. Will He approach you? Will He make you wait? Will He talk to others and yet, know you are waiting to be approached?

Waiting for God is the core of active contemplation. One puts one's self in the position to listen, trying to be as passive and receptive as possible. Sometimes God makes one wait for a long time, until the Word is received in a purity of heart, mind, and soul. That is the essence of the Dark Night.

God's loving attention demands that one sets aside one's reasons for loving and merely loves.

One waits for God. He is, of course, always there, but many times, even for years, hides Himself until one is ready to receive Him as He really is.

And, so I wait, suffering, to hear the Voice of the Beloved, waiting for the scrap of tone, even without seeing. I wait until God decides to reveal Himself in whatever way He so desires. Sometimes I hear Him for an instant, just Him showing me that He is there, and then He is gone. Such is the Dark Night....

Such is the work of active contemplation...such is waiting for God.

St. Edmund Campion, Pray for Britain

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2853750/Teachers-scared-teach-Jesus-Fear-offending-faiths-prevents-children-learning-true-meaning-Christmas-BBC-presenter-claims.html#ixzz3KQUutnB6

‘In the time of Henry VIII what one believed about the doctrine of ‘transubstantiation’ was literally a matter of life and death.
‘Our 17th-century Civil War was fought in large part over the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings.
‘Without a knowledge of Christianity, what will our schoolchildren make of much of our finest literature and drama, filled as it is with Christian imagery? Or much of the finest European art?’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2853750/Teachers-scared-teach-Jesus-Fear-offending-faiths-prevents-children-learning-true-meaning-Christmas-BBC-presenter-claims.html#ixzz3KYZY45hy
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What is "the deposit of faith"?

Some Catholics have expressed to me that they like religions which allow them a fluidity of belief. Indeed, I heard a sermon last week, wherein the priest was appealing to the congregation to change their ideas concerning Church teaching. Only the Church, usually in the person of the Pope, can explain, modify or re-express the deposit of faith. That happens through the infallibility of certain documents, such as Humanae Vitae.

Explaining or modifying is not the same as a fluidity at base. This wish or desire for fluidity is a misunderstanding of the Church's depositum fidei, the deposit of faith.

One can start with the CCC, on the section concerning sacred transmission of truth. This truth is found in its fullness in the Catholic Church.




THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION
74 God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth":29 that is, of Christ Jesus.30 Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth:

God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.31
I. THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION
75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline."32
In the apostolic preaching. . .
76 In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit";33
- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing".34
. . . continued in apostolic succession
77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority."35 Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time."36
78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes."37 "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer."38
79 The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: "God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church - and through her in the world - leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness."39



Now, we know that the Protestants chucked out most of Tradition in favor of the solas, to which I referred in a post yesterday, but also in the past on this blog. To disregard the preaching of the apostles and keep only Scripture (and not all) impoverished the Christian Faith in the Protestant denominations. Of course, without a concern for the deposit of faith, a fluidity of doctrine and knowledge became acceptable. If someone does not like something, one can change the doctrine-such as that of marriage. More from the CCC:

II. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURE
One common source. . .
80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."40 Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age".41
. . . two distinct modes of transmission
81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."42
"And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching."43
82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."44
Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions
83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.
Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium.

An example of this would be the allowance of usury.  Such major changes are not based on the doctrines given to us by Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, passed to the apostles, down directly to us today, but only changes which are not key teachings of the Church. So, for example, the teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman for life cannot be changed. 




Now, two quick points-reason, not emotions, guide the acceptance of truth in the deposit of faith. Notice how the CCC refers to both the intellect and the heart.

Secondly, the faithful who are docile and obedient hold the sensus fidei. One, in other words, cannot be disobedient to Christ's words and the long heritage of Tradition and believe one is living in truth. Again, as an example, Humanae Vitae separates those who have the supernatural appreciation of the faith and those who do not.

See also the mini-series on infallibility.


III. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HERITAGE OF FAITH
The heritage of faith entrusted to the whole of the Church
84 The apostles entrusted the "Sacred deposit" of the faith (the depositum fidei),45 contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. "By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practicing and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful."46
The Magisterium of the Church
85 "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ."47 This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
86 "Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith."48
87 Mindful of Christ's words to his apostles: "He who hears you, hears me",49 the faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.
The dogmas of the faith
88 The Church's Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these.
89 There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.50
90 The mutual connections between dogmas, and their coherence, can be found in the whole of the Revelation of the mystery of Christ.51 "In Catholic doctrine there exists an order or hierarchy of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith."52
The supernatural sense of faith
91 All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them53 and guides them into all truth.54
92 "The whole body of the faithful. . . cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals."55
93 "By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magisterium),. . . receives. . . the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. . . The People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life."





to be continued...

Will be blogging later today...

 Exhausted STM...

Saturday 29 November 2014

Monsieur Bling Bling is Back

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nicolas-sarkozy/11262713/Nicolas-Sarkozy-back-to-the-frontline-of-French-politics-and-straining-to-seize-the-Elysee.html

Catholics, Do You Understand?

The First Sunday of Advent reminds us of our deaths and of the Second Coming of Christ.

Do we understand this warning, that God is wanting to prepare us for heaven?

I want Catholics to wake up to the reality of the times....remember all my ostrich posts of the past several years.

Awake! Get ready.


Mark 13:33-37Douay-Rheims

33 Take ye heed, watch and pray. For ye know not when the time is.
34 Even as a man who going into a far country, left his house; and gave authority to his servants over every work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore, (for you know not when the lord of the house cometh: at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning,)
36 Lest coming on a sudden, he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch.

The Pestilence in The Church

The great individualism which demolished Christendom during the Protestant Revolt, with sola fide, sola Scriptura, sola gratia, solus Christus and soli Deo Gloriam, reached the pinnacle of usage for individuals of faith in the 20th century.

Authority and guidance from both the Teaching Magisterium and Tradition were replaced by radical theories involving the sole authority for truth as resting with each individual. Sadly, some Catholics misunderstood the entire debate about conscience and fell into the trap of disregarding Rome entirely. Such were those who rejected Humanae Vitae, for example.

The energy for the five solaes comes from anti-intellectualism. Subjective religion needs no laws, no teaching, no guidelines, only one's own good will.  Sincerity replaces scholarship, personal belief replaces the heritage of 2,000 years, and a pestilence of anti-intellectualism spreads into prayer groups, publishing houses, chancery offices and seminaries. The fact that a course on Aquinas can be, for example, like Latin, an elective, indicates the depth of the illness in priestly formation in some seminaries.

I call anti-intellectualism an illness because it sickens the soul, which will then shrivel up and die from starvation owing to a lack objectivity. The fact that so many Catholics think, truly believe, that most of the saints did not have an intellectual faith is a delirium of this illness. No one can be holy without objectivity.

Good people forget that St. John of the Cross studied Aquinas, that the great Teresa had scholars to help her in her spiritual life, or that Ignatius insisted that discernment rested on the solid basis of Scriptural studies and exegesis.

To be anti-intellectual indicates that the pestilence has infected the brain as well as the soul. Rationality has, until the last century, been the mark of a good, solid Catholic upbringing, even among those who never went to college. What had been heard from the pulpit carried over to daily life, decision-making, prayer.

The details of whether one favors Augustine and Plato over Aquinas and Aristotle do not matter, But, what matters is that every Catholic adult can reason out the great questions and answers of the Faith and of the life of perfection. Holiness must include a redeemed and trained intellect.

Without a foundation of thought, religion becomes pure sentiment, the emotional response to experience only, and not the great combination of the intellect, will, soul and heart.

God gave us the Greeks to form our rationality, the Romans to form our laws, and the Jews to purify our hearts. How easily it is forgotten that it was the monks who preserved classical education and invented both the primary and university school systems, improved by the Dominicans later, as well as the Jesuits, all returning to classical education.

It was St. Anselm who reintroduced the Trivium and the Quadrivium into the seminaries, for the formation of priests, which led to these curricula moving into the secular universities centuries later.

That there are Catholics who fall into anti-intellectualism indicates a denial of their own heritage and faith formation.

This pestilence seems to be growing instead of abating, and the recent lack of intellectual discipline at the Synod indicates how prevalent this sickness has become. I hear Catholics decrying the Synod as the result of too many intellectuals, when the problem is exactly the opposite-not enough Catholic intellectuals-cardinals who have not learned how to think through problems and are reacting in knee-jerk fashion emotionally took over the discussion because of the lack of intellectual Catholicism.

Until lay people and priests stop pushing the need for emotional conversion instead of real conversion, which begins with metanoia, the changing of the mind, this pestilence will grow.

The dying of the light of the intellect in the Church must be remedied, healed, by new light sparked from the embers of Thomism, Augustinianism, and other disciplines of the mind.

I hope it is not too late for such a Renaissance, no matter how small.






Sorry for the skimpy blog day

I have been ill for three days with either food poisoning (again) or the flu.

I simply do not have the energy to write today.

Bless you all and pray for me.

STM

Go with what is approved...

http://www.catholicdoors.com/isit/approved.htm

If you do not know this blog, you should

http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/

From Drudge

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/rick-perry-2016-campaign-113210.html

The Poinsettia Problem


I have known about this since 2006...does anyone know if this issue has been resolved?

The irony of raising flowers to honor Christ's birth and funding the murder of millions of babies....

Updates from readers needed.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Poinsettias from ECKE RANCH fund Planned Parenthood's abortions

When Christian churches flooded their facilities with poinsettias to celebrate the Christmas season, odds are that at least some of the money they paid for the blooms will be dedicated to paying for abortions, a new report reveals.

According to the Corporate Funding Project assembled and released by Life Decisions International, the Paul Ecke Ranch business of Ecinitas, Calif., has been added to its Boycott List because of its support for Planned Parenthood, the biggest abortion advocacy organization in the world and the largest U.S. provider in the abortion industry.

.........

Officials at Paul Ecke Ranch declined to return multiple WND messages requesting comment. But on their website, they boast "approximately 70 percent of all the flowering poinsettias in the USA and more than 50 percent worldwide get their start at the Paul Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, California."

.........

However, the LDI list, developed with years of experience, and updated regularly, is recognized "by virtually all pro-life/pro-family organizations" as the source of information regarding support for Planned Parenthood.

"Many good pro-life people are unknowingly participating in abortion by their daily purchases," a supporter, Ruth Enero, wrote the company. "Luckily, LDI's research provides an effective vehicle for countering the massive corporate funding of the abortion industry. Because the widespread use of the LDI Boycott List can bring an end to abortion, I talk up this organization at every opportunity. …"

PRO-LIFE WISCONSIN SENDS THIS MESSAGE:

It has become tradition in the United States for most churches and many homes to use poinsettia plants to create a beautiful festive atmosphere.

Before you purchase your poinsettias this year, you should be aware that the largest distributor of these plants, Paul Ecke Ranch, is a major supporter of Planned Parenthood.

The Ecke family members have, for years, been honored by Planned Parenthood of San Diego as one of their biggest abortion supporters.

Those opposed to Planned Parenthood have been getting the word out about the Ecke–Planned Parenthood connection and it has impacted the Ecke Ranch to the point where it cut back on its production of poinsettias last year and is licensing its name to other growers.

We ask everyone who loves life to be sure to check the source of your poinsettia plants before you buy them. If they carry the name of Ecke Ranch, pass them up and look for another brand.

US Largest Poinsettia Farmers among Planned Parenthood's Biggest Donors
LifeSiteNews ^ | 1/16/06 | Hilary White 
Posted on 1/16/2006, 9:17:21 PM by wagglebee
ENCINITAS, January 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Many pro-life organizations use Christmas season sales of poinsettias to raise funds, but according to a US-based researcher, so do Planned Parenthood and other abortionists in the US. James Hartline, a Christian activist in California wrote to LifeSiteNews.com warning that the poinsettias decorating the churches and homes of Christians in the US could easily originate from a family-owned business that has been supporting abortion for decades.
The Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, California, supplies 70% of all of the poinsettias sold in the United States and the Ecke family is among the most generous supporters of Planned Parenthood and long-time political activists for the abortion movement. The Ecke family features prominently in the major donors list in the fall 2005 edition of the San Diego/Riverside County Planned Parenthood Newsletter.
In November 2005, the Ecke family were present at the dedication of the new Carlsbad California Planned Parenthood facility renovation for which they had donated $250,000. In gratitude for their life-long support, the facility’s directors gave the Ecke family a catered dinner to honour them for their support of abortion.
Paul Ecke, the heir to the three-generation poinsettia empire, said of his siblings' upbringing as political abortion activists, "As children, we licked a lot of envelopes, we made a lot of phone calls, we walked door-to-door to encourage people to vote.” Among those causes, he said was promoting Planned Parenthood.
In an interview today, Hartline called for a boycott of the Ecke family’s poinsettias. Hartline told LifeSiteNews.com that acting on this information could “take millions of dollars away” from Planned Parenthood in short order.

St. Andrew, First-Called

Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Andrew. I have always liked him for two reasons. The first is that he followed St. John the Baptist and, therefore, was "awake", like St. John, waiting for Christ. Andrew told his brother Peter about Christ. Andrew is honored as the "First-Called" in the Eastern Church.

The second reason I like him so much is that he brought the boy with the loaves and fishes to Christ, which indicates he was a pro-active and helpful sort of person. He must have expected deep down inside Christ to do something!

St. Andrew is patron of many places, but today, please pray to him for two special places-the Ukraine and Luqa, Malta, for whom he is patron. Andrew was killed on the saltire form of the cross, now called St. Andrew's cross, the X form.

Preti, the great painter of Malta, who executed the great St. Catherine painting I put on the blog earlier this past week, did the St. Andrew found in the old chapel in Luqa. I have not been there yet.


When you think of him, especially tomorrow, pray for me, as I am living in St. Andrew's at this time. It amazes me to think that the chapel in Luqa was built six years after Columbus found America.

Malta churches glorify God, but also honor the faith of the people in the past.

A beautiful Mass to contemplate

Votive Mass of the Holy Cross
(in Eastertide)
Red


INTROIT: Gal. 6:14
Nos autem gloriari oportet in cruce Domini
nostri Jesu Christi, in quo est salus, vita et
resurrectio nostra : per quem salvati et liberati
sumus, alleluia, alleluia. Ps. 66:2: Deus misereatur
nostri, et benedicat nobis : illuminet vultum
suum super nos, et misereatur nostri. Gloria.
But it behoves us to glory in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ : in whom is our salvation, life, and
resurrection : by whom we are saved and delivered,
alleluia, alleluia. Ps. 66:2: May God have mercy on
us, and bless us : may he cause the light of his
countenance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy
on us.  Glory.
COLLECT
Deus, qui pro nobis Filium tuum crucis patibulum
subire voluisti, ut inimici a nobis expelleres
potestatem : concede nobis famulis tuis, ut resurrectionis
gratiam consequamur. Per eundem
Dominum.
O God, who didst will that thy Son should undergo
for us the ignominy of the cross to deliver us from the
power of the enemy : grant to us thy servants that we
may obtain the grace of his resurrection. Through the
same Lord.

EPISTLE: Phil. 2:8-11
Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad
Philippenses.
Fratres : Christus factus est pro nobis obediens
usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. Propter
quod et Deus exaltavit illum, et donavit illi
nomen, quod est super omne nomen : (hic
genuflectitur) ut in nomine Jesu omne genu
flectatur cælestium, terrestrium, et infernorum,
et omnis lingua confiteatur, quia Dominus
Jesus Christus in gloria est Dei Patris.
A lesson from the Epistle of St Paul the Apostle to
the Philippians.
Brethren: Christ became for us obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath
exalted him, and hath given him a name, which is
above every name : (here all kneel), that in the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that
are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and
that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus
Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

ALLELUIA: Ps. 95:10
Dicite in gentibus, quia Dominus regnavit a
ligno.
Say ye among the gentiles, that the Lord hath reigned
from the wood.

ALLELUIA
Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, dulcia ferens
pondera : quæ sola fuisti digna sustinere Regem
cælorum et Dominum.
Sweet wood, sweet nails, bearing a sweet weight :
which alone wert worthy to bear the King of heaven,
and the Lord. 



GOSPEL: Mt. 20:17-19
Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum
Matthæum.
In illo tempore : Assumpsit Jesus duodecim
discipulos secreto, et ait illis : Ecce, ascendimus
Jerosolymam, et Filius hominis tradetur principibus
sacerdotum et scribis, et condemnabunt
eum morte; et tradent eum gentibus ad illudendum,
et flagellandum, et crucifigendum, et
tertia die resurget.
Continuation of the holy Gospel according to
St Matthew.
At that time: Jesus took the twelve disciples apart
and said to them: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and
the Son of man shall be betrayed to the chief priests
and the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death.
And shall deliver him to the gentiles to be mocked
and scourged and crucified, and the third day he shall
rise again.

OFFERTORY
Protege, Domine, plebem tuam per signum
sanctæ crucis ab insidiis inimicorum omnium :
*ut tibi gratam exhibeamus servitutem, et
acceptabile fiat sacrificium nostrum, **alleluia.
 Te, sancta Dei crux, humiliter obsecramus,
ut tua virtute nostrum pectus munias, animas
custodias, cogitationes sanctifices per Christum
Jesum, qui pependit in te.  Qui pro mundi
salute in ligno crucis innocens pependisti,
miserere populo, quem redemisti : ut sacro
signaculo insignitus a periculis omnibus sit
securus. **Alleluia. Salvator mundi, salva nos
omnes et omnia, quæ adjuvant, benignus nobis
impende : et cuncta nocentia a nobis procul
repelle : atque protegendum nos dexteram tuæ
majestatis extende. *Ut tibi.

Protect thy people, O Lord, by the sign of the holy
cross, from the wiles of all their enemies : *that we
may render a service pleasing unto thee, and that our
sacrifice may be acceptable in thy sight, **alleluia.
 Humbly we beg thee, holy cross of God, that
through thy power thou mightest strengthen our
hearts, guard our souls, hallow our thoughts through
Christ Jesu, who hung from thee.  Thou, who wert
innocent hanging on the cross for the salvation of the
world, have mercy on the people whom thou hast
redeemed : that it, signed with the holy sign, may be
save from all perils. **Alleluia.  Saviour of the
world, save all of us and graciously grant us whatever
helps us : and remove far from us everything harmful
: and stretch out the right hand of thy majesty to
protect us. *That we.

SECRET
Hæc oblatio, Domine, quæsumus, ab omnibus
nos purget offensis : quæ in ara crucis etiam
totius mundi tulit offensam. Per eundem
Dominum.
May this oblation, we beseech thee, O Lord, cleanse
us from all sins : even as on the altar of the cross it
took away the sins of the whole world. Through the
same Lord.

PREFACE
Of the Holy Cross
Vere dignum et justum est, æquum et salutare,
nos tibi semper, et ubique gratias agere : Domine
sancte, Pater omnipotens, æterne Deus.
Qui salutem humani generis in ligno crucis
constituisti : ut unde mors oriebatur, inde vita
resurgeret : et qui in ligno vincebat, in ligno
quoque vinceretur : per Christum Dominum
nostrum. Per quem majestatem tuam laudant
Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt
Potestates. Cæli, cælorumque Virtutes, ac beata
Seraphim, socia exsultatione concelebrant.
It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that we
should always, and in all places, give thanks to thee,
O holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God. Who
didst set the salvation of mankind upon the tree of
the cross, so that whence came death, thence also life
might rise again : and he that overcame by the tree,
on the tree also might be overcome. Through Christ
our Lord : through whom the Angels praise thy majesty,
the Dominions adore, the Powers tremble. The
Heavens, and the Virtues of the heavens, and the
blessed Seraphim, do celebrate with united joy. In union with whom, 
we beseech thee, that thou wouldst
command our voices also to be admitted, with suppliant
confession, saying:
Cum quibus et nostras voces, ut admitti jubeas,
deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes :

COMMUNION
Per signum crucis de inimicis nostris libera nos,
Deus noster, alleluia.
By the sign of the cross deliver us from our enemies,
O thou who art our God, alleluia.

POST-COMMUNION
Adesto nobis, Domine Deus noster : et quos
sanctæ crucis lætari facis honore, ejus quoque
perpetuis defende subsidiis. Per Dominum.
Be nigh unto us, O Lord our God; and defend those
by the perpetual defence of the cross whom thou

makest to rejoice in its honour. Through our Lord

Friday 28 November 2014

God Will Not Ignore This

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/cdc-18-of-all-pregnancies-end-in-abortion-730322-is-a-new-low/article/2556742

Shades of Idiocracy

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-mcmass-mcdonalds-in-church-20141126-story.html

British Catholics, Did you see this?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/23/julien-blanc-ban-just-martyrs-him

Let slip the dogs of war....

 Revelation 20:1:4 NRSCV

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while.

God is allowing the evil one to be let out for a "little while". This is obvious. From today's Mass reading above...


Are you ready? From Shakespeare,  Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1, line 273...Ate is the goddess of strife and chaos. Antony sees the consequences of Caesar's murder. We shall see the consequences of sin.

And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial



News from SPUC

28 November 2014
Top story:
Abortion industry calls for law to create "access zones" against pro-life vigils outside abortion centres
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), one of the UK's largest abortion providers, has called for a law to create "access zones" against pro-life vigils outside abortion centres. BPAS made the call in response to the rise of pro-life vigils in the UK, such as those by 40 Days For Life and Abort67. The campaign, called Back Off, is also supported by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives, and other organisations. [BBC, 28 November]
Related stories:
Others stories:
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To receive this news regularly, visit http://www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup

The Day of The Wrath of The Bus Drivers


This morning, I asked a bus driver for directions. He literally slammed the door in my face without answering my question.

Then, later, a female bus driver got into a fight with one of the passengers, and a shouting match of twenty minutes occurred. Of course, I did not understand a word, but anger filled the air in both cases.

The horrible treatment of tourists, who come here and spend lots of money, is getting worse. An American this morning told me he is sick of the rudeness from the Maltese shopkeepers, bus drivers, waiters, and so on.

There seems to be anger and frustration in the air, as if the demons of the air were wafting through the streets of Valletta and St. Julian's tripping people's anger levers.

So many people here are unhappy, but prosperous. Most of the real Maltese live very comfortable lives. My new American colleague said they seemed spoiled, like contentious children.

The anger wears one down. Thank God, I feel peace and as I cannot understand Maltese, find situations odd, and slightly amusing. But, the rudeness is "getting old".

And, the rudeness is getting to some tourists, who are complaining that sweet Malta is changing.

Of course there is one big reason why there is anger and that is that the people here have left the Kingdom of God for the Kingdom of Mammon.

Malta is no longer Catholic, as my American friend said, and he knows, as he has lived here for awhile.

So sad--the ending of a great civilization.....in anger and greed.

A Good Blog To Read And A Great Article

http://www.onepeterfive.com/groveling-before-the-world-self-respect-and-the-new-evangelization/

If you remember, Jonathan was a guest writer on this blog a few years ago.

Saw this yesterday- journalist Giles Dilnot is ... pleased

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/27/-sp-ukip-mistakes-westminster-cathedral-for-mosque

Things that are not mosques hashtag is hilarious.

Thursday 27 November 2014

A Daring Suggestion To Fight Idolatry


Black Friday is the feast day of the god of Mammon. Millions of people go to worship at his temples where one finds the altars and the gifts of this god, for a price. All the idolaters get up early to worship at the small altars of the registers, fighting over the gifts of this god.

There is a real god of Mammon, and he is a demon. He grabs the imagination of men, women, and children on this day and forces them to buy useless things while meditating on money and the stuff of consumerism.

This demon is the same one worshiped in the Bible as Beelzebub, the god, the demon who demanded child sacrifice, according to at least one ancient father, Gregory of Nyssa. The name, Mammon, in the Hebrew, literally means "riches" and "the one in which one trusts". Horrid. He is mentioned in both the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew as Mammon.

This god brings many people to hell with this preoccupation of buying and selling. In ancient times, perhaps he was like Moloch, personified as a furnace, with a long shaft like a sliding board, on which the small urns with the live first-born sons would be put and rolled into the fire of Moloch's mouth or stomach.

Does this sound familiar? Both Mammon and Moloch are gods of abortion, demanding the sacrifice of children for wealth and things. Prosperity instead of offspring.....

Can you imagine if all those people lined up outside of Walmart or any other store were lining up to go to Mass? Can you imagine them loving the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost?


Here is my daring suggestion. Never shop on Black Friday. Instead, go to Mass as a family, as an individual, and go out of your way to visit the sick, the housebound, the needy instead.

Do something opposite of the worship of Mammon. Show Mammon that you do not worship him, and that you have no intention of doing so.

Say the rosary with others on this day. Find Adoration somewhere and go. Be quiet and read the Scriptures.

Read the Divine Office. Praise the God of Life. Sing hymns of joy and love. Be simple.


I challenge you to do the opposite of Mammon's followers and praise the One True God in deeds, in your heart, mind, soul.

Can you do this? The god Mammon needs to be ignored, not fed.

Go to Jesus and ask Him for the grace not to worship at the temples of Mammon on Black Friday. Go worship the Trinity at a Catholic church, and ask for strength and courage to fight the idolatry of Mammon.



No Privacy Today

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/11/26/happytracksgiving-a-guide-to-how-your-travels-are-tracked-this-holiday-season/

OPEC on the move

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f30bbd1c-7602-11e4-a777-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3KHoO988G

This Is Cool-Spanish Place And An Ordinariate Use Wedding

http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/#3052043242371690539

Necessity Is The Mother of Invention-Supertradcoffee

Without water, I was dying for a coffee. I had some Indian tonic water in the fridge and decided to mix it with my instant coffee

Wow, it is fantastic. The mixture makes a foam at the top like a latte, without milk.

This is a cold drink.

I call it the Supertradcoffee.

I filled a mug with the Indian tonic water, (I used Marksie's, which is the only one I can find, and very cheap here), and put in a heaping teaspoon of Arabica rich and toasty instant coffee.

It is really good! Try it and pray for me at the same time.

My son invented a drink which is now popular in the seminary- the Kavipolitan. However, I do not know the ingredients.

A Thanksgiving Post

http://tinyhouseblog.com/tinyhousehistory/tiny-house-plymouth-rock/

Why Von Maur Is Our Family Store

...was, in my case...

.

http://wqad.com/2014/11/26/a-142-year-tradition-von-maur-stays-closed-on-thanksgiving/

Von Maur’s history of staying closed on Thanksgiving is encouraging other big-name stores to do the same. Some of those stores include: CostCo, Nordstrom, Dillard’s, Blain’s Farm and Fleet, Barnes and Noble, Crate and Barrel, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Lowe’s, JoAnn Fabrics, Neiman Marcus, PetCo, Pier 1 Imports, T.J. Maxx, and Marshall’s.

And this is horrible.....http://www.wgrz.com/story/news/local/cheektowaga/2014/11/08/stores-punished-for-not-opening-on-thanksgiving/18731455/

Maltese Citizens Advised To Leave Libya

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141123/local/maltese-diplomats-in-libya-recalled.545413

And, so why are the doors open for so many Libyans to come to Malta?

Please pray for this man and his family Phillip Hughes 1988-2014



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/australia/11257197/Phillip-Hughes-dies-Career-of-Australian-cricketer-in-pictures.html

An extremely talented young man....God rest his soul. Same age as my son.........

http://news.sky.com/story/1381188/phillip-hughes-dies-after-severe-head-injury

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/australian-cricketer-phillip-hughes-dead-at-25-20141127-11vd48.html

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/nov/27/phillip-hughes-obituary

updated from 10:19

Perfect, if I could have one in Europe!

http://tinyhouseblog.com/stick-built/hobbitat-spaces/

Hobs for Pods?????

Trouble in Malta



A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PROPOSED BILL


Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act

- Implementation of The Gender Theory-


Gender theory states that one’s gender is independent of one’s biological sex so that one can “choose” whether one wants to be male or female. Optional realignment surgery (surgical genital modification) may alter the physical appearance, but cannot ever alter the genetic code of each and every cell.

The proposed Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act gives the Maltese Citizen the right to change his gender and his first name simply by submitting a request to the Director of Public Registry. No back up tests will be required, such as medical or psychological, which can serve as a safeguard against detrimental irreversible choices. Subsequently, all existing records will have to be changed to reflect the newly embraced gender and first name (identity).

The person who changes his gender would be entitled to the full rights of marriage and parenthood. This would amount in essence to same-sex marriage, rights for IVF treatment and surrogacy.

Those exercising parental authority over a minor may request the Court to change the recorded gender and the first name of a minor. At birth, the parents may choose not to declare the gender of the baby. In that case, before the minor reaches the age of 14, they or those exercising parental authority over the child, would be obliged to declare his gender.
9.(1) ”Accessibility to full act of birth shall be limited solely and exclusively to the person who has attained the age of eighteen years and to whom that act of birth relates or by court order.” This is discriminatory since the full act of birth of the rest of the population can be otherwise easily attained. Further, anyone caught exposing the fact of gender change of another person, for whatever the reason, will face a fine of €1000 – €5000.

This law will bring about a totally new concept of man, a man that recreates himself. Such a concept goes against the true nature of man established by natural law as created by God.

Once the law comes in force, in the name of “promoting equality of opportunity to all” this concept will be have to be taught in schools, including Church Schools. Students will have no option for opt outs. This is in direct violation to the Human Rights of the parents which guarantees their right to educate their children according to their conscience and beliefs.




The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Article 26. (3)
“ Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children”


European Convention on Human Rights
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
Protocol Article 2 Right to education
“No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.”




The government is receiving bill response submissions by latest Sunday 30 November 2014.

Our submission as response to the bill can be found in attached document ‘B’ which can be filled and sent by parents.  Or if one is reading this on this blog, write to STM in comments and I shall send you the petition. For Maltese citizens...

Happy Thanksgiving


God bless you all today. STM

Go Michael Voris! --This Is Horrible



Surrounded by Evil, which is a person. Heresy is coming out in the open. Some priests will go to hell for contradicting infallible documents. This video is one reason I am still blogging.

A Secret of The Poor

Jesus was poor and so were Mary and Joseph. It is laughable when liberal priests speak of them as being middle-class. There was no middle class in the First Century anywhere. The middle class was a result the social and financial changes during the Renaissance.

The fact that the Holy Family lived in poverty can be overlooked by many in the West who have never experienced poverty or penury.

God has allowed me in His Infinite Goodness and Wisdom to be poor, very poor. Being poor is like being on a camping trip which never ends. One has a sense of the transitory and the basics of life all the time. Poverty of spirit is being detached but also not being comfortable. To be poor is to live in a state of uncomfortableness.

This state reminds one that one is not made for this world, that one on pilgrimage constantly.

I own nothing, but a few books here, and in storage, some writings of mine here, and of my ancestors, in storage, some photos in storage, and, here, a few clothes and a laptop. I have a few icons and paintings in storage, and a few icons with me, plus my two rosaries, (one of the Sorrowful Mother), a cross I wear, a scapular I wear, and a few medals laying about the flat. That is it. 

I do not mind simplicity. I do mind inconvenience and lack of basic necessities, but I am trying not to mind. I am getting more and more use to not living a middle class lifestyle.


I have learned another secret of the poor besides being hungry and thirsty, being cold, being hot, being isolated, being judged as a lesser, dumber, less worthy person than others, being tired when on the bus, being ill without having the means to do anything about it, having to walk rather than drive all the time, not having good shoes or decent boots.

I asked Mary today in prayer whether she ever experienced this new thing I have had to face daily for a month. Basically, I have to decide between wearing dirty clothes, mildew clothes, or damp clothes.

Here is why. In this flat there is no washing machine or dryer. I wash all my clothes out by hand, which I did in the convent in Cobh. Ireland is damp, but the convent had places to hang out clothes to dry. With lots of rain, storms and humidity on a clear day of 89% here in Malta, my clothes simply do not dry. When I rented here in Malta before, there were washing machines in the flats which wrung out the clothes so that they dried in two days or less in the little patios out back.  I am no longer strong enough to wring all the water out of clothes by hand very well. I do not have my own patio.

When I lived in England, we had a washer-dryer, but some things had to be put in the airing cupboards. No such thing here. And, there is no central heating and no "fire" as at some of my friends' homes in England. I have an electric heater which would be highly expensive to run. My flat is now cold and damp. I have things hanging everywhere in this small studio flat.


Clothes do not dry in damp air.

Sometimes I try to iron things dry. I have even tried my hair dryer on some tights. That did not work. Some clothes have gone "pongy" and I am forced to wash them again. Sometimes, I have to wear things when these are very damp. Several times,  I have had to wear pongy clothes. Some people on the bus smell bad. They have dirty clothes. I do not judge them. I could be one of them. So, I wear damp clothes which are clean.

People like to romanticize about the Holy Family. In the First Century, there were no washers, no dryers. Deodorant did not exist and soaps were rare. The Babylonians invented soap about 2,800 B.C., but many peoples used oils to clean and scrap off dirt. Most people wore clothes more than once. In the Renaissance, when the New World was discovered, people bought oranges imported to Europe, and carried them around to hold up to their noses in order to combat bad smells. Perfumes were used to disguise bad smells. Perfumed handkerchiefs were held up to the nose as well.

Most ancient cultures had soap. I am sure Mary had soap, but it could have been expensive. She most certainly had to put her clothes outside to dry. She most certainly did not have enough clothes for a week, as I do not. She most certainly washed clothes frequently, and water was a chore to get.  She had to walk to the well more than once day, most likely. At least I have water for washing in the flat. I have to buy drinking water. All Maltese either buy water or have special systems in their homes for filtering.

The water here is mostly from rain water. One cannot drink the tap water. Buying water is a necessity. Think of Mary walking maybe as far as six blocks or a mile twice daily to get water. Imagine her doing laundry for hours, not minutes as I was use to doing.


I remember when I was a teacher in Bristol that the women would still lay there laundry out on one of the highest hills in the city. This was an old custom allowed by the city. One could see quilts and sheets laid out on the grass in the distance. I have no hills, no grass. There is a courtyard, but I share it with others, and it is now too damp and rainy to put things out.

Mary most likely washed things out daily, and put them on her roof, as people still do here in Malta. One sees lines with laundry everywhere, when the sun is shining, when the air is dry.

An old woman at Mass yesterday complained to me that she could not get her clothes to dry. I sympathized. Still, she has a washing machine and a small garden. She said this was a damp year.

Yesterday, when the storms came rolling in from the west, I was out walking. Many people were drenched as the rain came down for hours.


I got very wet and very cold. Sometimes the rain comes from the west, sometimes from the north, sometimes from the east. The western winds bring dirty rain, with sand in it, and when the air is damp and the thunderstorms come off the Mediterranean or Africa, one lives in dampness.

Our Blessed Mother worked much harder at keeping her family clothing clean than most of us today. But, I have been given a few insights into the secrets of the poor. She suffered things most of us cannot imagine. She must have had sore hands and a sore back from doing laundry by hand. I know. She spent much more time doing basic chores than most westerners. I know.

I saw a laundry truck today which had a logo on it plus a little saying something like, "Because your time is precious". To pay for a laundry service is highly expensive. I live too far to carry things to a laundromat and I only know of that one. I could not carry things two miles away or so. And, it is expensive as well.

So, when I have to go out with damp clothes, I pray to Mary for strength and peace, even joy.

Such is one of the secrets of the poor. I think of St. Therese being splashed with dirty water by the nun next to her in the laundry room. I was splashed yesterday on the pavement. The water was brown with dirt. One carries on with wet legs and wet feet. One prays for those who cannot walk or get to Mass.

By the way, when I was in America, one of my hobbies was making soap. I loved doing this. The last time I made soap was in 2010. Seems a long time ago now. I would make lots of different designer soaps and give many away for presents. I made soap with real lavender, beeswax, annatto seeds various other herbs, and oatmeal. I also used essential oils, such as bergamot or lemon. We had colored bars and various shapes of soap in the house. No more middle-class luxuries now....




 http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/04/one-thing-i-cannot-do-in-europe-is-hang.html