Every forth Thursday in November is Thanksgiving, a national holiday in the United States. [1], [2]
A holiday that has been designated for people to give thanks to each other and to God is a beautiful thing but the spirit of gratitude seems to have given way to materialism. Retailers are tripping over each other to start their sales earlier and earlier and quite a number of people have been transformed into ravenous consumers, some even going as far as camping out in front of certain stores for days in order to be one of the first to purchase something on sale. I wonder if any of these people who line up for material indulgences and make time to go shopping ever spend a few minutes remembering God's gifts, among them life, Free Will and creativity [3] and say with sincere gratitude a prayer of thanks.
[1] The history of Thanksgiving in the United States can be traced back to a corn harvest in November 1621 during which the English settlers who sailed on the Mayflower gave thanks to the indigenous American Indians who taught them, among other things, how to grow corn. See http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving
[2] I have never paid much attention to the history of Thanksgiving, because secular history
is not something that interests me and because I am a deracinated
individual (by choice) whose original birthplace has no such holiday.
[3] This is the first time I have mentioned creativity being a gift of God. I placed it after Free Will to underscore its importance. Highlighting creativity as part of God's many gifts came to mind during my Thanksgiving gathering with family this afternoon. Creativity can be achieved within science but scientific creativity is limited by the laws of physics. The creativity that is unlimited is achievable by our imagination, made possible by the grace of God, and I would like to believe that it is communicable with words, music and art which, arguably, are limited by human experience, physics and materials. However, words, music and art are not the end products; they are intermediaries: they serve only as suggestions, like imaginary stepping-stones, that lead one from one place where things can be seen and heard and possible to another where things can only be imagined but not possible in this world. Whether a communicated image that is otherworldly is a true vision of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory or a likeness of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory that can best be imagined by the limited human mind and expressed by the even more limited human language using words, music or art is beyond my abilities to determine. As an example, I quoted how Dante described one of his visions of Heaven, translated by John Ciardi, at http://lemomentdepaix.blogspot.com/2013/11/dantes-glimpse-of-heaven-in-third-sphere.html
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
Divine Energy
Back on November 10, I said that an energy consumed by pure Evil without any sense of compunction forever repels Divine Energy that is Pure and all Good and that we by our Free Will choose our ultimate destination by the source of our
focus and the direction of our drive in our earthly lives. [1] Today in Sermons of the Curé of Ars, [2] I found support for my statement when I read the sermon on death. [3] Sainte Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney said: [4]
[1] http://lemomentdepaix.blogspot.com/2013/11/serve-with-love.html
[2] Ven. Curé of Ars (Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney), Sermons of the Curé of Ars (Minnesota: The Neumann Press, 1984).
[3] I have said it before: nothing I write about in this blog is new. That is a good thing because that means my experiences are normal and my thoughts are not all that farfetched. I write because sometimes I enjoy it, and sometimes I feel compelled to do so. I write what comes to my mind that I think is worth sharing, however strange, however theoretically abstruse, even though it may lack originality. I thank Google's blogger.com for giving me this platform and I thank everyone who has visited my blog.
[4] The book has a note that is bothersome. It is on page iv, quoted below:
[5] Ven. Curé of Ars (Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney), Sermons of the Curé of Ars (Minnesota: The Neumann Press, 1984), 25-36.
[6] Ibid., 31.
If a person is at the moment of death possessed of a vicious habit, his soul will descend into hell; if, on the other hand, the soul is in a perfect condition, it will forthwith take its flight to heaven. If it falls to our lot to have to go purgatory, we will surely find the path some day. All this depends on the life which we have led. It is certain that our death will correspond with our life. If we have lived as good Christians and in fear of the Lord, we shall die as good Christians and live with the Lord for all eternity. But if, on the contrary, we have lived for our passions, our pleasures, and excesses, then we shall without fail die in sin. [5]
Yes, my friends, as the life, so the death. Do not hope for a miracle, which God vouchsafes but seldom. If you live in sin you will die in sin. [6]The sermon talked about a habit that is vicious, such as living for our passions, our pleasures and excesses. While such a habit may not be pure Evil on its face, it is pure Evil considering the elements underlying it, among them, the absence of God, the abuse of the mind (e.g., engaging in intellectual dishonesty) and body (e.g. indulging in drugs, sex and alcohol) and the presence of greed with all of its variations such as having different kinds of insatiable desires and obsessions. These are palpable life situations and the sermon inspired me to dwell on them. I was more abstract when I spoke of an evil energy that is incompatible with Divine Energy. I believe that the energy of a being is also the energy of the soul. When the being dies, the soul inherits the energy of the being. The energy is not transformed. During life, if the being's energy is an angry, bitter and vengeful energy, it will remain as such in the afterlife--negative. That negative energy is sourced in Evil and it is destined for the receptacle of all sinister energies, Hell. Negative energy repels Divine Energy and is repelled by Divine Energy. Negative energy and Divine Energy are polar opposites, and unlike magnets, these polar opposites do not attract. Therefore, a soul consumed by negative energy will only have access to Hell and nowhere else. However, if a being with negative energy has retained a certain uneasiness about the negativity, this compunction then ought to allow the willing soul admittance to Purgatory and unity with Divine Energy some time later.
[1] http://lemomentdepaix.blogspot.com/2013/11/serve-with-love.html
[2] Ven. Curé of Ars (Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney), Sermons of the Curé of Ars (Minnesota: The Neumann Press, 1984).
[3] I have said it before: nothing I write about in this blog is new. That is a good thing because that means my experiences are normal and my thoughts are not all that farfetched. I write because sometimes I enjoy it, and sometimes I feel compelled to do so. I write what comes to my mind that I think is worth sharing, however strange, however theoretically abstruse, even though it may lack originality. I thank Google's blogger.com for giving me this platform and I thank everyone who has visited my blog.
[4] The book has a note that is bothersome. It is on page iv, quoted below:
Note.--In order to present a complete set of sermons for the ecclesiastical year, a few sermons for Sundays and feasts, not found among those of the Curé of Ars, have been added to this volume by other authors.Which "few sermons" that were added by other authors were not identified. I would rather have a few less sermons but all of which are the work of Sainte Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney. So frustrating.
[5] Ven. Curé of Ars (Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney), Sermons of the Curé of Ars (Minnesota: The Neumann Press, 1984), 25-36.
[6] Ibid., 31.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Dante's Glimpse Of Heaven In The Third Sphere
In Dante Alighieri's words, in Canto VIII of The Paradiso, translated by John Ciardi:
[1] Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Paradiso. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003, p.657.
so I saw lights circling within that lightI believe anyone who can describe a non-static image of Heaven, including images that defy the earthly laws of physics, has either been given a vision of the true Heaven or the likeness of Heaven that can best be grasped by the limited human mind and expressed in the even more limited human language. I also believe that Heaven has far more beautiful sights than this planet and the universe it is in have, and they are as different as the different descriptions people have given.
at various speeds, each, I suppose, proportioned
to its eternal vision of delight. [1]
[1] Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Paradiso. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003, p.657.
Friday, November 22, 2013
The Antipodes: Holy Poverty And Economic Poverty
Holy poverty and economic poverty are in economic terms the same poverty but they are situated as far apart from each other as the mind can imagine.
Holy poverty is by choice. The best example is San Francesco d'Assisi. He was the decadent son of a wealthy merchant who chose to become poor and lived on alms. He became a saint by following the footsteps of Christ. While leading his life of holy poverty, he was granted the ability to perform miracles and was given the stigmata. [1]
By contrast, economic poverty is a result of circumstance either of birth or of societal ills. I have not yet come across the efficient allocation of poverty where the economically poor are truly holy. To put it bluntly and perhaps cruelly, it would be simplest, and most efficient, for the poor to choose to stay poor and live a saintly life of holy poverty. That is not the case, however.
The one exception I know is Sainte Bernadette Soubirous who lived in abject poverty with her parents and siblings, and whose nature was kind and courteous. [2] She would become the saint who would give the world the miraculous healing water of Lourdes after encountering the Blessed Virgin Mary and doing exactly as She instructed. The Lord has not given us too many saints like Bernadette.
If the poor in this world would choose to live in holy poverty like San Francesco d'Assisi or without envy like Sainte Bernadette Soubirous, there may not be another war. Those who are poor have not made such choices, but if they did choose to follow Christ, they could do it right away without having to sell any of their possessions (they have none). [3]
The poor are not to blame. As sinners, the poor, like everyone other sinner, are vulnerable to Satan's temptation. Before the poor, Satan has placed the fruit of envy and before the wealthy, the fruit of greed. Just like our first parents, Adam and Eve, we have eaten what we do not have to.
Most of us sinners, whether wealthy or poor, have chosen not to live in holy poverty and follow Christ like San Francesco d'Assisi. We have, under the supervision and with the support of Satan, created a divide that can never be closed, a scale of justice that will never be in balance. [4]
In dealing with inequality, all Satan wants us to do, including the priests and those in charge of the Vatican, is to be hypocrites, to pay lip service to social justice, like writing a catechism on the topic [5], playing politics with the poor by trading false promises for power or blogging about poverty online, pointing our fingers at every other secular entity or government or every other religious group except ourselves.
In the final analysis, we who have not chosen the path of Christ are all to a certain extent, greater or smaller, living in unholy poverty (spiritual, economic or both) that is antipodal to Holy poverty.
[1] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm
[2] http://www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/bernadette-soubirious.html
[3] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+19%3A21&version=NIV; http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+18%3A22; and http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+10%3A21&version=ESV
[4] "We" in the sentence include the rich and powerful whose greed makes them want to exploit sadistically the earth's resources and those inferior to them as well as the powerless paupers whose refusal to be productive (referring to charitable or for-profit productivity and not procreative productivity--that they excel in with abandon) makes them envious, bitter, angry and vengeful. Without prayer, we would swirl deeper and deeper into the vortex of depravity, the dark hole of hopelessness that Satan designed to trap people's souls during life so they can be Hell-bound after death.
[5] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c2a3.htm
Holy poverty is by choice. The best example is San Francesco d'Assisi. He was the decadent son of a wealthy merchant who chose to become poor and lived on alms. He became a saint by following the footsteps of Christ. While leading his life of holy poverty, he was granted the ability to perform miracles and was given the stigmata. [1]
By contrast, economic poverty is a result of circumstance either of birth or of societal ills. I have not yet come across the efficient allocation of poverty where the economically poor are truly holy. To put it bluntly and perhaps cruelly, it would be simplest, and most efficient, for the poor to choose to stay poor and live a saintly life of holy poverty. That is not the case, however.
The one exception I know is Sainte Bernadette Soubirous who lived in abject poverty with her parents and siblings, and whose nature was kind and courteous. [2] She would become the saint who would give the world the miraculous healing water of Lourdes after encountering the Blessed Virgin Mary and doing exactly as She instructed. The Lord has not given us too many saints like Bernadette.
If the poor in this world would choose to live in holy poverty like San Francesco d'Assisi or without envy like Sainte Bernadette Soubirous, there may not be another war. Those who are poor have not made such choices, but if they did choose to follow Christ, they could do it right away without having to sell any of their possessions (they have none). [3]
The poor are not to blame. As sinners, the poor, like everyone other sinner, are vulnerable to Satan's temptation. Before the poor, Satan has placed the fruit of envy and before the wealthy, the fruit of greed. Just like our first parents, Adam and Eve, we have eaten what we do not have to.
Most of us sinners, whether wealthy or poor, have chosen not to live in holy poverty and follow Christ like San Francesco d'Assisi. We have, under the supervision and with the support of Satan, created a divide that can never be closed, a scale of justice that will never be in balance. [4]
In dealing with inequality, all Satan wants us to do, including the priests and those in charge of the Vatican, is to be hypocrites, to pay lip service to social justice, like writing a catechism on the topic [5], playing politics with the poor by trading false promises for power or blogging about poverty online, pointing our fingers at every other secular entity or government or every other religious group except ourselves.
In the final analysis, we who have not chosen the path of Christ are all to a certain extent, greater or smaller, living in unholy poverty (spiritual, economic or both) that is antipodal to Holy poverty.
[1] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm
[2] http://www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/bernadette-soubirious.html
[3] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+19%3A21&version=NIV; http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+18%3A22; and http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+10%3A21&version=ESV
[4] "We" in the sentence include the rich and powerful whose greed makes them want to exploit sadistically the earth's resources and those inferior to them as well as the powerless paupers whose refusal to be productive (referring to charitable or for-profit productivity and not procreative productivity--that they excel in with abandon) makes them envious, bitter, angry and vengeful. Without prayer, we would swirl deeper and deeper into the vortex of depravity, the dark hole of hopelessness that Satan designed to trap people's souls during life so they can be Hell-bound after death.
[5] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c2a3.htm
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
An Afterthought on "Holy Victim"
I have written quite a few entries stating that Christ is not a victim, even though Christ is Holy. [1] I have not changed my mind; I just want to add an afterthought.
Some people may think that "Holy Victim" sounds good, and that by putting the word "holy" in front of the word "victim" and capitalizing both words would somehow transform the meaning of victim into something otherworldly and therefore the two words together, capitalized, would describe Christ appropriately. They cannot be more wrong.
In the English language, many idioms begin with the word "holy" which is followed by an obscene or vulgar four-letter word. From what I know, an obscene act or a vulgar by-product preceded by the word "holy" is not transformed into something otherworldly. Based on this reality, a victim is also not transformed into someone otherworldly when the word "holy" is placed before it, with or without capitalization.[2]
[1] http://lemomentdepaix.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-final-analysis-christ-is-not-victim.html
[2] Having made my argument, I now contradict myself by saying that it does not apply to the Holy Spirit or the Holy Trinity. Holy Spirit is a name, a proper noun. It is part of the Holy Trinity. Likewise, Holy Trinity is also a name, a proper noun, to address the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together. "Holy Victim," on the other hand, is not a name for Jesus Christ--it is a gratuitous, superfluous and affected attempt to describe Jesus. It is very wrong, like calling Christmas Holy Victim's Birthday. Christ is our hope for eternal salvation, not an eternal victim to be pitied through the ages.
Some people may think that "Holy Victim" sounds good, and that by putting the word "holy" in front of the word "victim" and capitalizing both words would somehow transform the meaning of victim into something otherworldly and therefore the two words together, capitalized, would describe Christ appropriately. They cannot be more wrong.
In the English language, many idioms begin with the word "holy" which is followed by an obscene or vulgar four-letter word. From what I know, an obscene act or a vulgar by-product preceded by the word "holy" is not transformed into something otherworldly. Based on this reality, a victim is also not transformed into someone otherworldly when the word "holy" is placed before it, with or without capitalization.[2]
[1] http://lemomentdepaix.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-final-analysis-christ-is-not-victim.html
[2] Having made my argument, I now contradict myself by saying that it does not apply to the Holy Spirit or the Holy Trinity. Holy Spirit is a name, a proper noun. It is part of the Holy Trinity. Likewise, Holy Trinity is also a name, a proper noun, to address the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together. "Holy Victim," on the other hand, is not a name for Jesus Christ--it is a gratuitous, superfluous and affected attempt to describe Jesus. It is very wrong, like calling Christmas Holy Victim's Birthday. Christ is our hope for eternal salvation, not an eternal victim to be pitied through the ages.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Confident In Love
For someone without a bloated ego, having confidence in oneself is challenging, especially one who is young, who lacks the requisite "looks," talent, intellect, knowledge or experience necessary to be "someone," someone who stands out among friends or family, someone who seems to get all the attention.
Do not envy those who bow to all the applause and receive all the accolades. Such things are ephemeral. Silence will return as soon as the applause stops and the next presentation of accolades will eclipse the last and the applause will be for someone else.
In the shadow of the spotlight, one can easily wallow in dejection, alone and unnoticed, quiet in pain. During these difficult and vulnerable periods, know that God's love is constant. Beware also that Satan's wickedness is also constant.
A time when one is vulnerable, when one has no sign of God's presence, is not a time to turn away from God, to abandon one's faith and turn toward Satan. One must pray, especially in the most painful and lonely of moments, until the pain subsides somewhat, until one has gain back the courage and energy to do the things one normally do.
One must not turn to over-the-counter (non-prescription) pain-killers, alcohol or illicit drugs, all of which Satan puts on the table as quick-fixes. They are not quick-fixes--they are addictive and ruinous. To consume them is to help Satan realize its goal: to ruin souls. Be very careful not to step into Satan's hell holes on this earth, then sink deeper into them, for the climb back up is more painful than the original pain, however much it hurts, for however many times and for however long.
While Satan's presence is apparent why is God's not? Why could God not work a miracle and heal instantly the pains of sadness by filling one's interior with joy and fulfillment? I could not answer these questions during a time when I personally experienced such pains, pains so sharp they pierced into the depths of my being. I did not go to therapy, consume alcohol, take medication or drugs. I prayed.
I prayed every time the pain returned, and every time it came back, I noticed that it was shallower, more tolerable. [1] It was no fun going through those episodes. I still recall how painful they were, where I was when the pain attacked, how I contorted my body, how lonely I felt.
Looking back, if I knew what I am writing now, I would have had an easier time. I would have told myself to be confident in love, in the love of God. I prayed then, but I did not embrace the love of God. I did not know how to embrace God. I know a bit more now. To embrace God's love means not embracing myself. I was embracing myself, not God. My focus was entirely on myself, the self-pity, the loneliness, the world that was against all that I was, perhaps it was, but that was no reason to embrace myself even more tightly, ever more dearly.
If I had embraced God ever so dearly instead of myself, I would be able to stand upright, swing open wide my door, step outside and show the world that I have confidence in how I am able to love anyone, in the way God loves everyone, regardless of how I looked or what I lacked in talent, knowledge, experience or intellect. I would be able to embrace with my spirit the most beautiful, the most angelic of God's creations without the desire to possess but with love that is given freely without any expectation of reciprocity. To love this way is to love as God loves, as Christ loves, and as the Blessed Virgin Mary loves.
So why did God not show me my fault and the cure then? Was God an absent parent? No. Without having experienced the pain, I would never have known it. As difficult as it was for me to tolerate it, it could not compare to the immense intensity of the many layers of pain Christ suffered in humility when He was betrayed, scourged, forced to wear a crown of thorns and taunted as a king and crucified by those who rejected Him, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Heart of Heaven that bled for the redemption of Sin and the salvation of souls. For me to have felt a very tiny bit of one of the many pains of Christ was and continues to be a blessing. It is God's gift of a never-ending grace. God was there to give it and I was blessed to receive it. [2]
[1] Prayers heal the soul. The soul, in turn, heals the mind. That must have been what happened in my case.
[2] God is never absent. We do not feel God's presence because we do not want to know what is good for us and do not believe what is good for us can be a bitter pill. Sometimes we need to go through difficult periods in order to correct our faults and experience Christ personally. That is a blessing. Those who curse at life's challenges and become more and more bitter are on the losing side of the battle against Satan. To lose that battle is to turn one's life into a living hell. A person might say that his life is already a living hell. To turn it around, he should first ask himself: "How humble am I? How sincerely and unconditionally have I loved, not myself but God and others?" Then he should humble himself and start to love God and others sincerely and unconditionally.
Do not envy those who bow to all the applause and receive all the accolades. Such things are ephemeral. Silence will return as soon as the applause stops and the next presentation of accolades will eclipse the last and the applause will be for someone else.
In the shadow of the spotlight, one can easily wallow in dejection, alone and unnoticed, quiet in pain. During these difficult and vulnerable periods, know that God's love is constant. Beware also that Satan's wickedness is also constant.
A time when one is vulnerable, when one has no sign of God's presence, is not a time to turn away from God, to abandon one's faith and turn toward Satan. One must pray, especially in the most painful and lonely of moments, until the pain subsides somewhat, until one has gain back the courage and energy to do the things one normally do.
One must not turn to over-the-counter (non-prescription) pain-killers, alcohol or illicit drugs, all of which Satan puts on the table as quick-fixes. They are not quick-fixes--they are addictive and ruinous. To consume them is to help Satan realize its goal: to ruin souls. Be very careful not to step into Satan's hell holes on this earth, then sink deeper into them, for the climb back up is more painful than the original pain, however much it hurts, for however many times and for however long.
While Satan's presence is apparent why is God's not? Why could God not work a miracle and heal instantly the pains of sadness by filling one's interior with joy and fulfillment? I could not answer these questions during a time when I personally experienced such pains, pains so sharp they pierced into the depths of my being. I did not go to therapy, consume alcohol, take medication or drugs. I prayed.
I prayed every time the pain returned, and every time it came back, I noticed that it was shallower, more tolerable. [1] It was no fun going through those episodes. I still recall how painful they were, where I was when the pain attacked, how I contorted my body, how lonely I felt.
Looking back, if I knew what I am writing now, I would have had an easier time. I would have told myself to be confident in love, in the love of God. I prayed then, but I did not embrace the love of God. I did not know how to embrace God. I know a bit more now. To embrace God's love means not embracing myself. I was embracing myself, not God. My focus was entirely on myself, the self-pity, the loneliness, the world that was against all that I was, perhaps it was, but that was no reason to embrace myself even more tightly, ever more dearly.
If I had embraced God ever so dearly instead of myself, I would be able to stand upright, swing open wide my door, step outside and show the world that I have confidence in how I am able to love anyone, in the way God loves everyone, regardless of how I looked or what I lacked in talent, knowledge, experience or intellect. I would be able to embrace with my spirit the most beautiful, the most angelic of God's creations without the desire to possess but with love that is given freely without any expectation of reciprocity. To love this way is to love as God loves, as Christ loves, and as the Blessed Virgin Mary loves.
So why did God not show me my fault and the cure then? Was God an absent parent? No. Without having experienced the pain, I would never have known it. As difficult as it was for me to tolerate it, it could not compare to the immense intensity of the many layers of pain Christ suffered in humility when He was betrayed, scourged, forced to wear a crown of thorns and taunted as a king and crucified by those who rejected Him, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Heart of Heaven that bled for the redemption of Sin and the salvation of souls. For me to have felt a very tiny bit of one of the many pains of Christ was and continues to be a blessing. It is God's gift of a never-ending grace. God was there to give it and I was blessed to receive it. [2]
[1] Prayers heal the soul. The soul, in turn, heals the mind. That must have been what happened in my case.
[2] God is never absent. We do not feel God's presence because we do not want to know what is good for us and do not believe what is good for us can be a bitter pill. Sometimes we need to go through difficult periods in order to correct our faults and experience Christ personally. That is a blessing. Those who curse at life's challenges and become more and more bitter are on the losing side of the battle against Satan. To lose that battle is to turn one's life into a living hell. A person might say that his life is already a living hell. To turn it around, he should first ask himself: "How humble am I? How sincerely and unconditionally have I loved, not myself but God and others?" Then he should humble himself and start to love God and others sincerely and unconditionally.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
What Is God?
Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical, "a letter addressed by the pope to all the bishops of the church", [1] was entitled God is Love: Deus Caritas Est. I have not yet read it but the title clearly indicates that Pope Benedict XVI believes that God is Love.
With God's plenary love, one has no need to fear or worry provided that one prays often and trusts God completely. The stronger the faith, the less the fear and worry, the greater the inner peace.
Attaining inner peace does not mean one does nothing; it means that one must act as necessary with the aid of prayers to achieve it since many people are deceitful and manipulative in their words and conduct. In them, evil works to sow discord and distrust, generating fears, worries and stress that replace inner peace, which is an extension of God's love. [2]
To diminish Satan's influence on them, prayers are indispensable, as is the Truth, for Satan detests prayers and fears the Truth. Those under Satan's influence are constantly avoiding, disguising and attacking the Truth so that evil in every form imaginable can achieve its selfish or diabolical ends. [3] Protect oneself against attacks by the minions of Satan that are everywhere by praying and living in God's love and by God's Truth since God is love and God's love is the absolute Truth. Use prayers as the sword the Truth as the shield.
Even when properly armed, one cannot deter Satan's attacks which can be frequent, painful and devastating. Matthew 10:28 states: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body [or torment the mind] but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." [4] By praying, believing and living in God's Truth and forgiving, one can have inner peace even in the face of death (including a natural death) or persecution. Prayers, together with forgiveness, will soothe the pains of torment and nurture the growth of inner peace.
Prayers alone, without forgiveness, are ineffective because the absence of forgiveness is the presence of anger and vengeance and they are weapons against oneself, putting continuous stress on the body and the mind to the delight of Satan. To completely overcome Satan, Christ on the cross prayed with these words: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." [5] One must learn to do the same to triumph over Satan, not with hate and retaliation, but with prayer and forgiveness so that the peace that Christ has given with these words can thrive within oneself: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives." [6], [7], [8], [9]
Inner peace can only germinate within a tranquil soul undisturbed by the cares and evils of the world and will perish surrounded by such disturbances. Attaining inner peace is not easy, keeping it alive is very difficult. Even Francesco d'Assisi had to escape from the crowds [10] and go into solitude to nurture it, to keep God close to him, to share in the peace of Christ, given to all by God for God is love.
[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/encyclical?s=t
[2] The words of Christ, the Son of God: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives." See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A27&version=NIV
[3] If everyone knows the Truth, no one would side with Satan making it irrelevant. Satan's relevance in this world is its greatest accomplishment, allowing it to lead as many souls as possible to perdition.
[4] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.%2010.28
[5] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=LUKE%2023:34
[6] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A27&version=NIV
[7] Christ's prayer for the forgiveness of sinners on the cross does not contradict the second sentence in Matthew 10:28, warning everyone to "be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" because God's plenary love is not a blind love: it is an unconditionally forgiving love, which is why Christ had to pray to God the Father to forgive His persecutors because if Christ did not intercede for them and ask forgiveness on their behalf, there could not be forgiveness because in order to be forgiven one or one's intercessor must first pray to God for forgiveness. Those who conspired to put Christ to death did not believe that they did anything wrong and therefore would not think to ask for forgiveness. Without Christ praying for their forgiveness, their souls and bodies could not be forgiven and would have to suffer continuous and eternal destruction in Hell.
[8] The implication that God cannot forgive a person who has not prayed for forgiveness himself or by his intercessor does not mean that it is wrong to believe that God is love. God is love because God is ready, willing and able to forgive as soon as a sinner by his Free Will no longer wishes to hold onto his sins and reject God. How a person who does not personally pray for forgiveness and has not willed freely to be forgiven is able to receive God's forgiveness is a miracle made possible by the grace of God. I do not know how exactly the miracle works without contravening the Gift of Free Will. Perhaps the person is given a peek at the Truth and a second chance to repent, and if he still does not repent, then by his Free Will, he would have made the ultimate choice and God would have to let him go and let his choice be permanent.
[9] My proposed axiom that God cannot grant forgiveness except man himself or his intercessor prays to God for forgiveness does not apply to man. Man is not God. Man must forgive those who have sinned against him even though they have not asked for forgiveness. Not forgiving means not ever having inner peace. Indifference is not enough because indifference without forgiveness is a denial of forgiveness. To have inner peace one must have forgiven fully every wrong. Inner peace is God's peace, it is a peace that is from God's love, given to all by Christ Who has forgiven, a peace not of this world (John 14:27), a peace from God Who is love.
[10] From the book, Armstrong, Regis J. O.F.M. Cap. et.al. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Volume I, The Saint. Page 409. New York: New York City Press, 2000, the following is excerpted:
With God's plenary love, one has no need to fear or worry provided that one prays often and trusts God completely. The stronger the faith, the less the fear and worry, the greater the inner peace.
Attaining inner peace does not mean one does nothing; it means that one must act as necessary with the aid of prayers to achieve it since many people are deceitful and manipulative in their words and conduct. In them, evil works to sow discord and distrust, generating fears, worries and stress that replace inner peace, which is an extension of God's love. [2]
To diminish Satan's influence on them, prayers are indispensable, as is the Truth, for Satan detests prayers and fears the Truth. Those under Satan's influence are constantly avoiding, disguising and attacking the Truth so that evil in every form imaginable can achieve its selfish or diabolical ends. [3] Protect oneself against attacks by the minions of Satan that are everywhere by praying and living in God's love and by God's Truth since God is love and God's love is the absolute Truth. Use prayers as the sword the Truth as the shield.
Even when properly armed, one cannot deter Satan's attacks which can be frequent, painful and devastating. Matthew 10:28 states: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body [or torment the mind] but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." [4] By praying, believing and living in God's Truth and forgiving, one can have inner peace even in the face of death (including a natural death) or persecution. Prayers, together with forgiveness, will soothe the pains of torment and nurture the growth of inner peace.
Prayers alone, without forgiveness, are ineffective because the absence of forgiveness is the presence of anger and vengeance and they are weapons against oneself, putting continuous stress on the body and the mind to the delight of Satan. To completely overcome Satan, Christ on the cross prayed with these words: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." [5] One must learn to do the same to triumph over Satan, not with hate and retaliation, but with prayer and forgiveness so that the peace that Christ has given with these words can thrive within oneself: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives." [6], [7], [8], [9]
Inner peace can only germinate within a tranquil soul undisturbed by the cares and evils of the world and will perish surrounded by such disturbances. Attaining inner peace is not easy, keeping it alive is very difficult. Even Francesco d'Assisi had to escape from the crowds [10] and go into solitude to nurture it, to keep God close to him, to share in the peace of Christ, given to all by God for God is love.
[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/encyclical?s=t
[2] The words of Christ, the Son of God: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives." See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A27&version=NIV
[3] If everyone knows the Truth, no one would side with Satan making it irrelevant. Satan's relevance in this world is its greatest accomplishment, allowing it to lead as many souls as possible to perdition.
[4] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.%2010.28
[5] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=LUKE%2023:34
[6] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A27&version=NIV
[7] Christ's prayer for the forgiveness of sinners on the cross does not contradict the second sentence in Matthew 10:28, warning everyone to "be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" because God's plenary love is not a blind love: it is an unconditionally forgiving love, which is why Christ had to pray to God the Father to forgive His persecutors because if Christ did not intercede for them and ask forgiveness on their behalf, there could not be forgiveness because in order to be forgiven one or one's intercessor must first pray to God for forgiveness. Those who conspired to put Christ to death did not believe that they did anything wrong and therefore would not think to ask for forgiveness. Without Christ praying for their forgiveness, their souls and bodies could not be forgiven and would have to suffer continuous and eternal destruction in Hell.
[8] The implication that God cannot forgive a person who has not prayed for forgiveness himself or by his intercessor does not mean that it is wrong to believe that God is love. God is love because God is ready, willing and able to forgive as soon as a sinner by his Free Will no longer wishes to hold onto his sins and reject God. How a person who does not personally pray for forgiveness and has not willed freely to be forgiven is able to receive God's forgiveness is a miracle made possible by the grace of God. I do not know how exactly the miracle works without contravening the Gift of Free Will. Perhaps the person is given a peek at the Truth and a second chance to repent, and if he still does not repent, then by his Free Will, he would have made the ultimate choice and God would have to let him go and let his choice be permanent.
[9] My proposed axiom that God cannot grant forgiveness except man himself or his intercessor prays to God for forgiveness does not apply to man. Man is not God. Man must forgive those who have sinned against him even though they have not asked for forgiveness. Not forgiving means not ever having inner peace. Indifference is not enough because indifference without forgiveness is a denial of forgiveness. To have inner peace one must have forgiven fully every wrong. Inner peace is God's peace, it is a peace that is from God's love, given to all by Christ Who has forgiven, a peace not of this world (John 14:27), a peace from God Who is love.
[10] From the book, Armstrong, Regis J. O.F.M. Cap. et.al. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Volume I, The Saint. Page 409. New York: New York City Press, 2000, the following is excerpted:
"Therefore, that most holy man, who had come to know how to divide his time usefully between himself and those around him, on a certain occasion left the crowds of secular people, sought out a place of solitude, and took a few companions with him, in order to defend his repose from all the tumult of those who thronged to him. For, on occasion, he longed to have time free for God alone, and to shake off any dust he had picked up while dealing with men. And after his mind was quiet for a little while, he tasted the sweeter fruit of contemplation, then with all his heart he longed to know what to do to be able to make the sacrifice of himself more pleasing to the Lord." Emphasis original.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
A Heart Without Love
Let us start with this question: Where does love reside? The three most likely places are the heart, the brain and the soul. The next question is: What matter is it composed of? Nothing tangible and nothing visible.
What cannot be touched or seen cannot be copied, in 2-D or 3-D, but the heart and the brain can be seen, touched and soon enough, be replicated in 3-D, as if the feat has not already been accomplished in Russia [1] and partially in the United States. [2] While 3-D replicas of live, implantable organs may still be science fiction, speculating on their possible effects here is not too soon.
Indeed, having a spare or two of one's vital organs, like the heart, is a pretty good way to postpone death temporarily, repeatedly or perhaps even permanently, but what is the meaning of life if it is incapable of receiving love from God and loving God in return, given that love is non-dimensional and cannot be printed, and that loves resides in the heart and a 3-D copy of a heart has no love?
What if love resides in the soul, and since the soul is eternal and is part of the body (in this case, a non-dying body of artificial parts), so would love be eternally attached to the non-dying body. Let me propose a theory which asserts that the soul is inextricably tied to the intellect and the intellect resides in brain. Like the soul, the intellect is also eternal which is why you would know without a doubt whether you are in Hell or in Heaven. In this hypothetical, even if one were to live on and on with successive replacement hearts pumping nonstop, the brain would deteriorate over time as cells usually do. So when the time comes to replace the original brain with a 3-D replica, the intellect and the soul, both of which like are non-dimensional and cannot be printed, would not be part of the replicated brain. A copy of one's brain could possibly have no intellect or a weak semblance of intellect but it would have no soul and no love, for the love that is attached to the soul which is attached to the original intellect that had been endowed by God with Free Will would have left the body the moment the natural brain is truly dead. [3] In essence, what would be left would be a shell of what used to be human with all its components from a 3-D printer that looks [4] and behaves nothing like a human. That I do not think is what God intended for us to become--uncategorized zombies in eternity, also to be known as Satan rejects. [5]
[1] http://marchmontnews.com/Technology-Innovation/Central-regions/19551-Moscow-scientists-make-accurate-heart-copy-3D-printer.html
[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/3d-printed-organs_n_3983971.html
[3] A discussion of beings in a vegetative state is beyond the scope of this entry.
[4] Imagine how hideous this thing would look like if the skin on it has to be replaced by artificial skin stretched over a skull with artificial eyes, nose, ears and lips operated by artificial muscles underneath that never works quite right, that need a tune-up every few weeks.
[5] Uncategorized zombies are Satan rejects because Satan is a collector of souls. Entities without souls do not interest Satan. Hell does not have a place for them--they are not welcomed.
What cannot be touched or seen cannot be copied, in 2-D or 3-D, but the heart and the brain can be seen, touched and soon enough, be replicated in 3-D, as if the feat has not already been accomplished in Russia [1] and partially in the United States. [2] While 3-D replicas of live, implantable organs may still be science fiction, speculating on their possible effects here is not too soon.
Indeed, having a spare or two of one's vital organs, like the heart, is a pretty good way to postpone death temporarily, repeatedly or perhaps even permanently, but what is the meaning of life if it is incapable of receiving love from God and loving God in return, given that love is non-dimensional and cannot be printed, and that loves resides in the heart and a 3-D copy of a heart has no love?
What if love resides in the soul, and since the soul is eternal and is part of the body (in this case, a non-dying body of artificial parts), so would love be eternally attached to the non-dying body. Let me propose a theory which asserts that the soul is inextricably tied to the intellect and the intellect resides in brain. Like the soul, the intellect is also eternal which is why you would know without a doubt whether you are in Hell or in Heaven. In this hypothetical, even if one were to live on and on with successive replacement hearts pumping nonstop, the brain would deteriorate over time as cells usually do. So when the time comes to replace the original brain with a 3-D replica, the intellect and the soul, both of which like are non-dimensional and cannot be printed, would not be part of the replicated brain. A copy of one's brain could possibly have no intellect or a weak semblance of intellect but it would have no soul and no love, for the love that is attached to the soul which is attached to the original intellect that had been endowed by God with Free Will would have left the body the moment the natural brain is truly dead. [3] In essence, what would be left would be a shell of what used to be human with all its components from a 3-D printer that looks [4] and behaves nothing like a human. That I do not think is what God intended for us to become--uncategorized zombies in eternity, also to be known as Satan rejects. [5]
[1] http://marchmontnews.com/Technology-Innovation/Central-regions/19551-Moscow-scientists-make-accurate-heart-copy-3D-printer.html
[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/3d-printed-organs_n_3983971.html
[3] A discussion of beings in a vegetative state is beyond the scope of this entry.
[4] Imagine how hideous this thing would look like if the skin on it has to be replaced by artificial skin stretched over a skull with artificial eyes, nose, ears and lips operated by artificial muscles underneath that never works quite right, that need a tune-up every few weeks.
[5] Uncategorized zombies are Satan rejects because Satan is a collector of souls. Entities without souls do not interest Satan. Hell does not have a place for them--they are not welcomed.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Hail Mary - Annotated
AVE Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen. [1]
My annotations (what I think about when I pray the Ave Maria slowly and lovingly) [2]:
Ave Maria - Mother of Jesus Christ, Mother of God
gratia plena - The Blessed Virgin Mary is filled with God's grace because she was born without Original Sin. She is the Immaculate Conception.
Dominus tecum - The Lord is with Her, from the very beginning, at present and will be forever.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus - The Virgin Mary is truly the most blessed among all women, from the beginning of time to eternity.
Et benedictus fructus ventri tui, Iesus - The womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary is blessed with the living Christ, Jesus.
Sancta Maria - The Blessed Virgin Mary is indeed Holy: Sanctissima, inviolata, intemerata, pulcherrima. "The four adjectives mean "most holy, inviolate, undefiled, most beautiful. " See comment by GreenWhiteBlue at http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=535471
Mater Dei - Mother of God, Mother of Jesus Who suffered and died for our salvation, the Mother Who suffered along with her Son, Jesus.
ora pro nobis - The image that I use varies but mostly from images of Her many apparitions around the world that I have seen depicted, praying to God for us. My favorite one is of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France, where She appeared to Saint Bernadette Soubirous to whom She said that She was the Immaculate Conception (in French) when asked who She was. See http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/approved/appariti/lourdes.html and http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/approved/words/wordlour.html The images of the most beautiful Blessed Virgin Mary praying to God for us, by Herself or surrounded by angels, are the most beautiful that can be imagined and felt during this prayer.
peccatoribus, nunc, - I think of me, sinner, at the moment I say this
et in hora mortis nostrae - I think of an endlessly large but amorphous group of individuals.
[1] http://www.thesacredheart.com/latpray.htm#b
[2] Confessedly, I usually say the prayer rather fast, lacking the kind of loving care it deserves.
My annotations (what I think about when I pray the Ave Maria slowly and lovingly) [2]:
Ave Maria - Mother of Jesus Christ, Mother of God
gratia plena - The Blessed Virgin Mary is filled with God's grace because she was born without Original Sin. She is the Immaculate Conception.
Dominus tecum - The Lord is with Her, from the very beginning, at present and will be forever.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus - The Virgin Mary is truly the most blessed among all women, from the beginning of time to eternity.
Et benedictus fructus ventri tui, Iesus - The womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary is blessed with the living Christ, Jesus.
Sancta Maria - The Blessed Virgin Mary is indeed Holy: Sanctissima, inviolata, intemerata, pulcherrima. "The four adjectives mean "most holy, inviolate, undefiled, most beautiful. " See comment by GreenWhiteBlue at http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=535471
Mater Dei - Mother of God, Mother of Jesus Who suffered and died for our salvation, the Mother Who suffered along with her Son, Jesus.
ora pro nobis - The image that I use varies but mostly from images of Her many apparitions around the world that I have seen depicted, praying to God for us. My favorite one is of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France, where She appeared to Saint Bernadette Soubirous to whom She said that She was the Immaculate Conception (in French) when asked who She was. See http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/approved/appariti/lourdes.html and http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/approved/words/wordlour.html The images of the most beautiful Blessed Virgin Mary praying to God for us, by Herself or surrounded by angels, are the most beautiful that can be imagined and felt during this prayer.
peccatoribus, nunc, - I think of me, sinner, at the moment I say this
et in hora mortis nostrae - I think of an endlessly large but amorphous group of individuals.
[1] http://www.thesacredheart.com/latpray.htm#b
[2] Confessedly, I usually say the prayer rather fast, lacking the kind of loving care it deserves.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Gilardi v. HHS
Getting into a legal fray is not the primary purpose of this blog since anything that necessitates a law passed by sinners to regulate the conduct of other sinners and to be judged by sinners is necessarily a law that is flawed and unsatisfactory in its application, enforcement and resolution. No amount of discussion concerning any such law will remedy its defects. The primary purpose of the blog is to discuss matters that I believe are universal, like Free Will and Divine Truth that hopefully would lead both blogger and reader closer to God, not laws that are country-specific conceived and passed by insignificant, small-minded hypocritical sinners under the powers of Satan. This is an exception.
For a reader in Greenland, as if there is one, what follows will likely not hold any interest. Be that as it may, Gilardi v. HHS [1] is a United States case that has highlighted a bigger issue than those addressed by the judges' opinions that I find disturbing, namely the inclusion of contraceptive coverage by the United States government in its insurance scheme. Based on my understanding, the government of the United States now requires certain employers providing health insurance to their employees to include contraception as part of the coverage.
Here is my question: When has human sexual intercourse been considered a disease that has to be treated because it may lead to fertilization and child birth so that contraception would be necessary as part of a health insurance scheme mandated by the government to prevent such disastrous occurrences?
If human sexual intercourse is not a disease, then it should not be part of a health insurance program. Even if it were a disease, is it not better to treat the disease by abstention which is not only free and safe but also one hundred percent effective?
If human sexual intercourse is a disease, possibly viewed by those advocating contraception as part of a health scheme, then these creatures -- obvious by-products of the disease or of failed attempts in preventing it through contraception resulting thereby in their births -- ought to be hospitalized and receive antemortem treatment. Is any treatment going to be effective for these creatures who otherwise would possibly not have been born had their government-mandated contraception been in place before they became a zygote? I wonder how remorseful these creatures must be to have been born and to have used their lives to pass a law to prevent pathetic lives such as theirs from having ever been created.
[1] http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/947B9C4D8A1E54E785257C16004E80C9/$file/13-5069-1464136.pdf
For a reader in Greenland, as if there is one, what follows will likely not hold any interest. Be that as it may, Gilardi v. HHS [1] is a United States case that has highlighted a bigger issue than those addressed by the judges' opinions that I find disturbing, namely the inclusion of contraceptive coverage by the United States government in its insurance scheme. Based on my understanding, the government of the United States now requires certain employers providing health insurance to their employees to include contraception as part of the coverage.
Here is my question: When has human sexual intercourse been considered a disease that has to be treated because it may lead to fertilization and child birth so that contraception would be necessary as part of a health insurance scheme mandated by the government to prevent such disastrous occurrences?
If human sexual intercourse is not a disease, then it should not be part of a health insurance program. Even if it were a disease, is it not better to treat the disease by abstention which is not only free and safe but also one hundred percent effective?
If human sexual intercourse is a disease, possibly viewed by those advocating contraception as part of a health scheme, then these creatures -- obvious by-products of the disease or of failed attempts in preventing it through contraception resulting thereby in their births -- ought to be hospitalized and receive antemortem treatment. Is any treatment going to be effective for these creatures who otherwise would possibly not have been born had their government-mandated contraception been in place before they became a zygote? I wonder how remorseful these creatures must be to have been born and to have used their lives to pass a law to prevent pathetic lives such as theirs from having ever been created.
[1] http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/947B9C4D8A1E54E785257C16004E80C9/$file/13-5069-1464136.pdf
Serve With Love
"Serve with love" is only three words but explaining them has taken countless more over the millennia. Let me join in, as if I have not already on this blog, and add to the hours that have already been wasted on the topic.
If words alone are not enough, I can think of two people who had demonstrated it by how they lived. The first is the Blessed Virgin Mary Who served God with unreserved love by accepting the Holy Spirit and giving birth to the Son of God so that we can learn from Him. The second is the Son of God Who served His Father with unconditional love by suffering the manifestations of Evil and giving up His life in order that ours can be saved.
Sadly, man has not learned from the combined lives of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. If man cannot learn by example, then what good will more words do? Perhaps that they could serve as a reminder of the ways the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus served with love.
A reminder, however feeble its effectiveness in changing a man's heart, is perhaps enough if it only acts to remind man just once to examine whether his actions arises purely out of love or the semblance of love for he would then have at least acted with a degree of compunction, even though the completed action was in part, the greater or the lesser, self-serving, and not served humbly with selfless love without guise.
After writing four paragraphs, I have yet to explain what "serve with love" means. Which operative word should be used to explain "serve with love"? I thought of using the word "motive" or "intent" in describing the impetus for one to serve another with love. Then the word "energy" came to mind. Immediately it felt right.
"Energy" is an internally driven force. That force comes much closer in revealing the underlying truth that propels one to act. I do not think that one's focus and energy can be deceived whereas both motive and intent can easily be intellectually manipulated to conceal the truth and are therefore concepts useful in the practice of law but not so in a discourse to reveal it.
Man can rationalize all he wants and conclude that he is serving with selfless love, but he cannot escape the fact that his energy or his drive is instead focused upon and directed at something else, something that results in, for example, an advantage, a potential gain, a certain recognition, an alleviation of guilt, an exercise of power or an elevation of status over others. If indeed that is the case, then however seemingly humanitarian the act, he is serving himself with love rather than God with love.
Since we are sinners, having had the origin of our energy sourced in Purity and Goodness irrevocably contaminated by Satan in the Garden of Eden, we act often in our own selfish interests. That may not be holy but that is the reality. I believe that we have to acknowledge that we are sinners, and that our acts are usually not selfless. That ought to be fine, as long as we do not delude ourselves into believing otherwise, and on the condition that we continually try to act truly selflessly from time to time in the service of God and others. Although fulfilling this condition is not a recompense or a cure for our misguided steps, it nonetheless, I believe, dilutes ever so slightly our energy contaminated by Original Sin. Perhaps such a dilution would be enough for a chance at salvation whereas no dilution would mean no chance at all. An energy consumed by pure Evil without any sense of compunction forever repels Divine Energy that is Pure and all Good. [1] Based on this hypothesis, we by our Free Will choose our ultimate destination by the source of our focus and the direction of our drive in our earthly lives. [2]
Our earthly lives are our realities which can consist of difficult people who are judgmental, vengeful, spiteful, envious or the like, who are often dissatisfied and critical. That quite likely could be us, in addition to a parent or a close relative, a beloved friend or a spouse, a child or a senior, the sick or the handicapped, the mendicant or the drug addict. Even though people so afflicted may not possess the positive energy needed for entry into Heaven, holiness requires the forgiveness and the selfless serving of someone who expects a lot and complains often. With repeated doses of positive energy delivered on a plate served with the kind of love the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus have for God and us, I believe everyone whose energy has been corrupted by Satan will eventually yield to the energy of Purity and Goodness.
When we serve others with pure love, [3] we would bring an energy of Purity and Goodness to those who have lost it and put back in front of them the path to Heaven; at the same time, we would benefit from the same positive energy that we have given to others. If, at times, we ourselves need a dose of Purity and Goodness because our energy is so warped but no one is around to serve us selflessly with love, then we must turn to prayer. When we supplicate, the impossible is possible.
[1] Unlike magnets, these polar opposites do not attract.
[2] In other words, the theory of energy is based on Free Will, a gift to us from God until the very end -- a gift of freedom to choose Heaven or Hell by where and how we focus our energy in our earthly lives.
[3] Today is 11/11/13 and the following is added:
Today I caught the last part of Joel Osteen's sermon. He talked about four types of people, ones who lifts you and makes you feel good about yourself, ones who thrusts you and inspires you to reach your goals and I might add, to realize your dreams, ones who weighs you down and with their problems, expecting you to fix them, holding you down with them and ones who drags you along with them with their negativity, draining your energy, using you as a trash can to dump all their problems. The operative words, lift, thrust, weight and drag are terms Joel Osteen borrowed from his pilot friend who said in order to fly a plane, all of those factors have to be taken into account. Joel Osteen said that the person who weighs you down or drags you along could be your spouse but you would have to let your spouse live the life in negativity if so desired but you ought not to feel responsible and be a co-dependent, that you must break free of the bondage that ties you down so that you could realize the potential God has given you. However, he added that you must continue to respect that person whose negativity you feel responsible for and pray for that person, and that you could allow yourself to be part of the negative drama with that person, but only for a season, not a lifetime.
When I said we ought to serve others with pure love, it was not about living the life of a complainer afflicted with constant dissatisfaction or becoming a part of their lives, allowing yourself to absorb all of their negativity and shoulder all of their burdens. What I meant by serving the negative folks with love is by approaching them with patience, understanding and compassion, detached from the emotional aspects that drain away the energy of Purity and Goodness. This service is not just for a season but for a lifetime. How can one serve with love a parent, a child or a loved one for one season and not the next? As difficult as serving with love is, one must do it again and again, and do it for as long as it takes for Purity and Goodness to make an entry into the darkness of negativity that belongs to Satan so that the Light of God can pierce through and shine forth from within which is when healing starts to take place. For the love of God, one cannot abandon the afflicted. Patience is key. If one is not living under the same roof with the afflicted, one must depart by leaving the afflicted with an assurance that love with return and love will be served again soon. This assurance is a promise that cannot and must not be broken: the expectation created by this promise is equivalent to the expectation of salvation promised by Christ.
Those who are blessed by God have the responsibility to reveal the gift of blessedness to others so that they, too, can follow the path to God and receive their own blessedness and live in the humble hope of salvation, of pure joy and eternal fulfillment. Dissatisfaction would have faded away into nothingness and all the complaints would be a fully forgotten past.
Let us all take the first and the last step, and take as many as possible in between, with pure love propelled by the energy of Purity and Goodness.
To end, I thank Joel Osteen for lifting me up, inspiring me to write this footnote, and confirm that I agree totally with Joel Osteen that we must respect and pray for those afflicted with unshakable negative energy, that God would heal them. A prayer that I would recommend we, and they, say is the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel, in Latin (see http://www.thesacredheart.com/latpray.htm#stmich):
If words alone are not enough, I can think of two people who had demonstrated it by how they lived. The first is the Blessed Virgin Mary Who served God with unreserved love by accepting the Holy Spirit and giving birth to the Son of God so that we can learn from Him. The second is the Son of God Who served His Father with unconditional love by suffering the manifestations of Evil and giving up His life in order that ours can be saved.
Sadly, man has not learned from the combined lives of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. If man cannot learn by example, then what good will more words do? Perhaps that they could serve as a reminder of the ways the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus served with love.
A reminder, however feeble its effectiveness in changing a man's heart, is perhaps enough if it only acts to remind man just once to examine whether his actions arises purely out of love or the semblance of love for he would then have at least acted with a degree of compunction, even though the completed action was in part, the greater or the lesser, self-serving, and not served humbly with selfless love without guise.
After writing four paragraphs, I have yet to explain what "serve with love" means. Which operative word should be used to explain "serve with love"? I thought of using the word "motive" or "intent" in describing the impetus for one to serve another with love. Then the word "energy" came to mind. Immediately it felt right.
"Energy" is an internally driven force. That force comes much closer in revealing the underlying truth that propels one to act. I do not think that one's focus and energy can be deceived whereas both motive and intent can easily be intellectually manipulated to conceal the truth and are therefore concepts useful in the practice of law but not so in a discourse to reveal it.
Man can rationalize all he wants and conclude that he is serving with selfless love, but he cannot escape the fact that his energy or his drive is instead focused upon and directed at something else, something that results in, for example, an advantage, a potential gain, a certain recognition, an alleviation of guilt, an exercise of power or an elevation of status over others. If indeed that is the case, then however seemingly humanitarian the act, he is serving himself with love rather than God with love.
Since we are sinners, having had the origin of our energy sourced in Purity and Goodness irrevocably contaminated by Satan in the Garden of Eden, we act often in our own selfish interests. That may not be holy but that is the reality. I believe that we have to acknowledge that we are sinners, and that our acts are usually not selfless. That ought to be fine, as long as we do not delude ourselves into believing otherwise, and on the condition that we continually try to act truly selflessly from time to time in the service of God and others. Although fulfilling this condition is not a recompense or a cure for our misguided steps, it nonetheless, I believe, dilutes ever so slightly our energy contaminated by Original Sin. Perhaps such a dilution would be enough for a chance at salvation whereas no dilution would mean no chance at all. An energy consumed by pure Evil without any sense of compunction forever repels Divine Energy that is Pure and all Good. [1] Based on this hypothesis, we by our Free Will choose our ultimate destination by the source of our focus and the direction of our drive in our earthly lives. [2]
Our earthly lives are our realities which can consist of difficult people who are judgmental, vengeful, spiteful, envious or the like, who are often dissatisfied and critical. That quite likely could be us, in addition to a parent or a close relative, a beloved friend or a spouse, a child or a senior, the sick or the handicapped, the mendicant or the drug addict. Even though people so afflicted may not possess the positive energy needed for entry into Heaven, holiness requires the forgiveness and the selfless serving of someone who expects a lot and complains often. With repeated doses of positive energy delivered on a plate served with the kind of love the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus have for God and us, I believe everyone whose energy has been corrupted by Satan will eventually yield to the energy of Purity and Goodness.
When we serve others with pure love, [3] we would bring an energy of Purity and Goodness to those who have lost it and put back in front of them the path to Heaven; at the same time, we would benefit from the same positive energy that we have given to others. If, at times, we ourselves need a dose of Purity and Goodness because our energy is so warped but no one is around to serve us selflessly with love, then we must turn to prayer. When we supplicate, the impossible is possible.
[1] Unlike magnets, these polar opposites do not attract.
[2] In other words, the theory of energy is based on Free Will, a gift to us from God until the very end -- a gift of freedom to choose Heaven or Hell by where and how we focus our energy in our earthly lives.
[3] Today is 11/11/13 and the following is added:
Today I caught the last part of Joel Osteen's sermon. He talked about four types of people, ones who lifts you and makes you feel good about yourself, ones who thrusts you and inspires you to reach your goals and I might add, to realize your dreams, ones who weighs you down and with their problems, expecting you to fix them, holding you down with them and ones who drags you along with them with their negativity, draining your energy, using you as a trash can to dump all their problems. The operative words, lift, thrust, weight and drag are terms Joel Osteen borrowed from his pilot friend who said in order to fly a plane, all of those factors have to be taken into account. Joel Osteen said that the person who weighs you down or drags you along could be your spouse but you would have to let your spouse live the life in negativity if so desired but you ought not to feel responsible and be a co-dependent, that you must break free of the bondage that ties you down so that you could realize the potential God has given you. However, he added that you must continue to respect that person whose negativity you feel responsible for and pray for that person, and that you could allow yourself to be part of the negative drama with that person, but only for a season, not a lifetime.
When I said we ought to serve others with pure love, it was not about living the life of a complainer afflicted with constant dissatisfaction or becoming a part of their lives, allowing yourself to absorb all of their negativity and shoulder all of their burdens. What I meant by serving the negative folks with love is by approaching them with patience, understanding and compassion, detached from the emotional aspects that drain away the energy of Purity and Goodness. This service is not just for a season but for a lifetime. How can one serve with love a parent, a child or a loved one for one season and not the next? As difficult as serving with love is, one must do it again and again, and do it for as long as it takes for Purity and Goodness to make an entry into the darkness of negativity that belongs to Satan so that the Light of God can pierce through and shine forth from within which is when healing starts to take place. For the love of God, one cannot abandon the afflicted. Patience is key. If one is not living under the same roof with the afflicted, one must depart by leaving the afflicted with an assurance that love with return and love will be served again soon. This assurance is a promise that cannot and must not be broken: the expectation created by this promise is equivalent to the expectation of salvation promised by Christ.
Those who are blessed by God have the responsibility to reveal the gift of blessedness to others so that they, too, can follow the path to God and receive their own blessedness and live in the humble hope of salvation, of pure joy and eternal fulfillment. Dissatisfaction would have faded away into nothingness and all the complaints would be a fully forgotten past.
Let us all take the first and the last step, and take as many as possible in between, with pure love propelled by the energy of Purity and Goodness.
To end, I thank Joel Osteen for lifting me up, inspiring me to write this footnote, and confirm that I agree totally with Joel Osteen that we must respect and pray for those afflicted with unshakable negative energy, that God would heal them. A prayer that I would recommend we, and they, say is the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel, in Latin (see http://www.thesacredheart.com/latpray.htm#stmich):
Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio; contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperat illi Deus; supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae c[a]elestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Canto VII - Paradiso - The Divine Comedy (Continued)
While other tercets in Dante's Paradiso's Canto VII are also powerful and edifying, I quote only the tercets in the Canto on Original Sin and redemption, as translated by John Ciardi [1], [2], [3], [4]:
[1] Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Paradiso. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003, p.651-2.
[2] The tercets quoted are indicated by lines 79-120.
[3] The other tercets that are powerful and edifying in Paradiso's Canto VII, indicated by lines 25-51, have not been quoted except for the tercet indicated by lines 46-48 which was quoted in my last entry. However, I will quote the notes written by John Ciardi for these lines:
[4] The notes written by John Ciardi on line 81, lines 85-86, lines 97, lines 104-105 and line 114 follow:
Line 81: "it shines less brightly in Its ray: Since God's fire rays forth most brightly in that which is most like God, and since sin makes man less like God, sin makes man shine less brightly in God's ray." Emphasis original
Lines 85-86: "seed . . . totally: The seed of Adam. By his sin, all mankind fell from its first innate worth and lost Paradise." Emphasis original.
Line 97: "Limited man: Man is limited by his mortal means. Within them, no depth of humility to which he could descend could be proportionate to the height he had sought in his rebellious sin. For man's sin was in seeking to become God, and there is no equivalent depth to which he could sink in recompense, for in sinning he had already damned himself to Hell." Emphasis original.
Lines 105-105: "by one (way): Mercy or both: Mercy and Justice. Since man could not save himself, God could have forgiven him outright as an act of mercy. Or [H]e could have created a man so perfect that he was capable of just expiation (that would have been the way of Justice). But in giving Himself through His own Son, He chose the double way that was both divine mercy and human justice." Emphasis original.
Line 114: "on either way: On the way of mercy or the way of justice." Emphasis original.
See Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Paradiso. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003, p.654-5.
Sin is the one power that can take away
its freedom and its likeness to True Good, 80
whereby it shines less brightly in Its ray.
Its innate worth, so lost, it can regain
only by pouring back what guilt has spilled,
repaying evil pleasure with just pain.
Your nature, when it took sin to its seed, 85
sinned totally. It lost this innate worth,
and it lost Paradise by the same deed.
Nor could they be regained (if you heed my words
with scrupulous attention) by any road
that does not lead to one of these two fords: 90
either that God, by courtesy alone,
forgive his sin; or that the man himself,
by his own penitence and pain, atone.
Now fix your eye, unmoving, on the abyss
of the Eternal Wisdom, and your mind 95
on every word I say concerning this!
Limited man, by subsequent obedience,
could never make amends; he could not go
as low in his humility as once,
rebellious, he had sought to rise in pride. 100
Thus was he shut from every means himself
to meet God's claim that He be satisfied.
Thus it was up to God, to him alone
in His own ways--by one or both, I say--
to give man back his whole life and perfection. 105
But since a deed done is more prized the more
it manifests within itself the mark
of the loving heart and goodness of the doer,
the Everlasting Love, whose seal is plain
on all the wax of the world was pleased to move 110
in all His ways to raise you up again.
There was not, nor will be, from the first day
to the last night, an act so glorious
and so magnificent, on either way.
For God, in giving Himself that man might be 115
able to raise himself, gave even more
than if he had forgiven him in mercy.
All other means would have been short, I say,
of perfect justice, but that God's own Son
humbled Himself to take on mortal clay. 120
[1] Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Paradiso. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003, p.651-2.
[2] The tercets quoted are indicated by lines 79-120.
[3] The other tercets that are powerful and edifying in Paradiso's Canto VII, indicated by lines 25-51, have not been quoted except for the tercet indicated by lines 46-48 which was quoted in my last entry. However, I will quote the notes written by John Ciardi for these lines:
THE CRUCIFIXION. Beatrice argues that the death of Christ was just because [H]e had taken upon Himself both the nature and guilt of mankind. His expiation was just because the sin of His human nature was great. But since He was also a God, the pain suffered upon His divinity was a sacrilege and demanded punishment.See Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Paradiso. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003, p.654.
[4] The notes written by John Ciardi on line 81, lines 85-86, lines 97, lines 104-105 and line 114 follow:
Line 81: "it shines less brightly in Its ray: Since God's fire rays forth most brightly in that which is most like God, and since sin makes man less like God, sin makes man shine less brightly in God's ray." Emphasis original
Lines 85-86: "seed . . . totally: The seed of Adam. By his sin, all mankind fell from its first innate worth and lost Paradise." Emphasis original.
Line 97: "Limited man: Man is limited by his mortal means. Within them, no depth of humility to which he could descend could be proportionate to the height he had sought in his rebellious sin. For man's sin was in seeking to become God, and there is no equivalent depth to which he could sink in recompense, for in sinning he had already damned himself to Hell." Emphasis original.
Lines 105-105: "by one (way): Mercy or both: Mercy and Justice. Since man could not save himself, God could have forgiven him outright as an act of mercy. Or [H]e could have created a man so perfect that he was capable of just expiation (that would have been the way of Justice). But in giving Himself through His own Son, He chose the double way that was both divine mercy and human justice." Emphasis original.
Line 114: "on either way: On the way of mercy or the way of justice." Emphasis original.
See Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Paradiso. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003, p.654-5.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Canto VII - Paradiso - The Divine Comedy
Line 47 (the middle line) in Canto VII of Paradiso is for me the most powerful stanza in Dante's Divine Comedy: [1]
In Italian by author Dante Alighieri:
Translated by John Ciardi:
Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
Anyone interested in reading The Divine Comedy in its entirety, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, can go here: http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/dante/dante-longfellow.pdf [5]
[1] The tercet quoted (as originally written and two translations) is from Dante's Paradiso, Canto VII, lines 46-48. Other stanzas in this Canto are also edifying and I plan to quote them too in a later entry. I actually have not finished reading Dante's Paradiso, but I cannot imagine the author coming up with a line that more loaded than this line 47, by placing God (the "Chooser") on one side and the Jews (the "Chosen") on another that is diametrically opposed to God's, caused by a disagreement as to why Christ had to die, and simultaneously bringing them together in agreement by their sharing of a common solution, namely, the death of Christ, with just nine words.
[2] http://divinacommedia.weebly.com/paradiso-canto-vii.html
[3] Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Paradiso. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003, p.650.
[4] http://www.thefinalclub.org/view-work.php?work_id=12§ion_id=296
[5] I prefer John Ciardi's translation but I think it is at present available in print only.
In Italian by author Dante Alighieri:
Però d’un atto uscir cose diverse:
ch’a Dio e a’ Giudei piacque una morte;
per lei tremò la terra e ‘l ciel s’aperse. [2]
Translated by John Ciardi:
Thus, various sequels flow from one event:
God and the Jews concurred in the same death;
for it the earth shook and the heavens were rent. [3]
Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
Earth trembled at it and the Heaven was opened. [4]
Anyone interested in reading The Divine Comedy in its entirety, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, can go here: http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/dante/dante-longfellow.pdf [5]
[1] The tercet quoted (as originally written and two translations) is from Dante's Paradiso, Canto VII, lines 46-48. Other stanzas in this Canto are also edifying and I plan to quote them too in a later entry. I actually have not finished reading Dante's Paradiso, but I cannot imagine the author coming up with a line that more loaded than this line 47, by placing God (the "Chooser") on one side and the Jews (the "Chosen") on another that is diametrically opposed to God's, caused by a disagreement as to why Christ had to die, and simultaneously bringing them together in agreement by their sharing of a common solution, namely, the death of Christ, with just nine words.
[2] http://divinacommedia.weebly.com/paradiso-canto-vii.html
[3] Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. The Paradiso. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2003, p.650.
[4] http://www.thefinalclub.org/view-work.php?work_id=12§ion_id=296
[5] I prefer John Ciardi's translation but I think it is at present available in print only.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Lectio Divina - Pronunciation
How is Lectio Divina pronounced? Is it Lek-SEE-Oh or LECK-Tee-Oh Dih-VEE-Nah [1]?
I like LECK-Tee-Oh and found support for it at http://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/44071/13162179/Lectio_Divina_Questions?pg=2, #16, posted by Mostyn32 on November 4, 2007, 12:16 a.m. Quoted:
[1] One, without any reference to knowledge or experience, said "Divina" is pronounced as Dah-veen-ah. I suppose if it were pronounced that way, taking a cue from Mostyn32, it would be spelled DAVINA. I also suppose this person would also pronounce "divine" (hear the proper pronunciation at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/divine?s=t) as DAH-VINE which to me is the opposite of heavenly. Maybe Satan's serpent is called DaVine.
I like LECK-Tee-Oh and found support for it at http://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/44071/13162179/Lectio_Divina_Questions?pg=2, #16, posted by Mostyn32 on November 4, 2007, 12:16 a.m. Quoted:
Lectio is Latin for "I read", and I've never heard it pronounced any other way than LECK-TEE-OH, with the emphasis on the first syllable. If it was to be pronounced LEK-SEE-OH, it would be spelled LEXIO. (I learned Latin long before I began the daily practice of Lectio Divina).
[1] One, without any reference to knowledge or experience, said "Divina" is pronounced as Dah-veen-ah. I suppose if it were pronounced that way, taking a cue from Mostyn32, it would be spelled DAVINA. I also suppose this person would also pronounce "divine" (hear the proper pronunciation at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/divine?s=t) as DAH-VINE which to me is the opposite of heavenly. Maybe Satan's serpent is called DaVine.
The Immaculate Conception - Common Misperceptions
Thirteen weeks ago on August 4, I quoted Noel Muscat OFM's article on Blessed John Duns Scotus' arguments in defense of the Immaculate Conception. [1] Today I found two sources explaining the Immaculate Conception, differing only in how the doctrine operates. [2], [3], [4] Regardless of how scholars analyze the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, here I address only what I believe to be another misperception: that the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Jewish mother.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is the universal mother. She was conceived without Sin. [5] Since the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without Sin, She was like no other descendant of Adam and Eve that exists or ever existed. Original Sin, an invisible, non-removable genetic code that attaches to all defines all people of all origins by their common predisposition to Sin and its variations. Since the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without Sin, She is other-worldly, not belonging to this world's human race and simultaneously belonging to all and is connected by love to all peoples of this world just as all peoples of this world belong to God Who is love and are made in the image of God in one way or another.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is, therefore conclusively, not Jewish, even though she followed certain Jewish customs since both Mother and Child were, after all, in the land of the Jews, [6] and to respect Joseph, who is Jewish.
For similar reasons, and other reasons beyond the scope of this entry, God is not Jewish, and neither is Jesus Christ nor the Holy Spirit. [7]
[1] http://lemomentdepaix.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-immaculate-conception.html
[2] Both sources agree that the most common mistake believers and non-believers alike incorrectly think that the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Jesus Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. They also agree that the Immaculate Conception refers to the Sinless conception of Mary herself.
[3] http://christianity.about.com/od/christiandoctrines/qt/marymisconcepts.htm
[4] http://catholicism.about.com/od/beliefsteachings/f/Imm_Concept_FAQ.htm
[5] Whether the Blessed Virgin was redeemed from Original Sin the moment before conception or simultaneous with conception is a discussion for biblical scholars and is beyond the scope of this blog. However, whether the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived by the seed of Joachim biologically and whether the ovum in the barren Anne that bore Her was tainted by the Sin of Eve could be a subjects of discussion in the future but that remains to be decided. For general information on Saint Anne, see http://www.saintanne.webhero.com/
[6] As the saying goes: when in Rome do as the Romans do. Accordingly, Jesus was presented at the Temple (Luke 2:22-40) http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A22-40&version=NIV and the Holy Family went yearly to Jerusalem for Passover (Luke 2:41-52)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A41-52&version=NIV
[7] Since Sin is also universal, the Master of Sin and all its variations, Satan, is therefore, not Jewish.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is the universal mother. She was conceived without Sin. [5] Since the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without Sin, She was like no other descendant of Adam and Eve that exists or ever existed. Original Sin, an invisible, non-removable genetic code that attaches to all defines all people of all origins by their common predisposition to Sin and its variations. Since the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without Sin, She is other-worldly, not belonging to this world's human race and simultaneously belonging to all and is connected by love to all peoples of this world just as all peoples of this world belong to God Who is love and are made in the image of God in one way or another.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is, therefore conclusively, not Jewish, even though she followed certain Jewish customs since both Mother and Child were, after all, in the land of the Jews, [6] and to respect Joseph, who is Jewish.
For similar reasons, and other reasons beyond the scope of this entry, God is not Jewish, and neither is Jesus Christ nor the Holy Spirit. [7]
[1] http://lemomentdepaix.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-immaculate-conception.html
[2] Both sources agree that the most common mistake believers and non-believers alike incorrectly think that the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Jesus Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. They also agree that the Immaculate Conception refers to the Sinless conception of Mary herself.
[3] http://christianity.about.com/od/christiandoctrines/qt/marymisconcepts.htm
[4] http://catholicism.about.com/od/beliefsteachings/f/Imm_Concept_FAQ.htm
[5] Whether the Blessed Virgin was redeemed from Original Sin the moment before conception or simultaneous with conception is a discussion for biblical scholars and is beyond the scope of this blog. However, whether the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived by the seed of Joachim biologically and whether the ovum in the barren Anne that bore Her was tainted by the Sin of Eve could be a subjects of discussion in the future but that remains to be decided. For general information on Saint Anne, see http://www.saintanne.webhero.com/
[6] As the saying goes: when in Rome do as the Romans do. Accordingly, Jesus was presented at the Temple (Luke 2:22-40) http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A22-40&version=NIV and the Holy Family went yearly to Jerusalem for Passover (Luke 2:41-52)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A41-52&version=NIV
[7] Since Sin is also universal, the Master of Sin and all its variations, Satan, is therefore, not Jewish.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
An Article By Mark Doherty
The following was written by Mark Doherty [1]:
According to the newspaper, Mark Doherty is a fourth-year student of theology at St. Patrick's Seminary and University in formation for the priesthood for the San Francisco Archdiocese. His article is deeply thoughtful, broadly encompassing and spiritually stirring, not to mention that it was succinctly and brilliantly composed. A priest who thinks and writes like this will rise in the ranks quickly. I hope he continues to publish so I can continue to be inspired by him and to quote him.
I love reading it. He hits on all the major themes that I find important. First, he talks about going home. We are from God and to God our soul yearns to return. Second, he talks about a father, our Father, sending his beloved son to "extend to us the final, definitive invitation" to return home. That is the new and everlasting covenant. [2] Third, he talks about God's unique love for each of us and that "[i]t is here, that the drama of human life takes place." All of us are created in the image of God and each of us has been imparted a part of God with differing talents and abilities. In God's eyes all talents and abilities are cherished but not in Satan's. Satan wants to sow the seeds of envy and greed, bitterness and vengeance and in my interpretation of the author's thoughts, the tension between seeing the good in all and unfairness and injustice in everything is the human drama. Fourth, he mentions that "[w]e must choose." In order to choose, we must have Free Will, an oft-repeated theme in this blog. The choices we encounter daily between good and evil defines our lives. They represent clashes between God and Satan and are always dramatic. Fifth, he tells us how we must choose, how to respond to the "final, definitive invitation," to the most important and critical R.S.V.P. in our lives, and that is by saying yes, corroborated by an action to serve God. To serve God properly, one must follow the will of God so that one can enter the house of God. Sixth, he says that "the house of the Father is the house of love." This is unconditional love, a love that is born out of humility. Finally, he tells us that loving and serving God unconditionally is just the beginning of our journey home. To actually reach home, we must participate in the work of God, by employing the gifts God has given to us individually. [3] He ends this thought with these beautiful words: "To each one is entrusted a mission that is irreplaceable and not reproducible. No one is left out; no mission is inconsequential."
May God bless us all on our individual journeys home. Let us not lose focus and stray onto paths leading us farther and farther away. When we do stray, may God lead us back onto the lighted path. Amen.
[1] Doherty, Mark. "The human story is all about the journey home." Catholic San Francisco, November 1, 2013.
[2] See http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/lesson/covenant_the_new_and_everlasting_covenant, Section V, subsection E, paragraphs 20-24 (the paragraphs are not numbered - they are counted)
[3] The more elaborate and the more perfect the gifts, the heavier the burdens; the more modest and the more awkward and imperfect the gifts, the lighter the burdens. Nobody is given a burden that is heavier that can be carried. Regardless of the gifts and the attendant burdens, we must be thankful for the greatest gifts of all, our incarnate lives and our freedom to choose.
The ancients knew something about it. Both
the “Odyssey” and the “Aeneid” tell stories of
men confronting terrific hazards in their quest
for home. The “Odyssey” recounts Odysseus’
danger-filled journey to Ithaca after the siege
of Troy. On the journey back he loses all of his
companions, and upon his return to Ithaca he
has to vanquish all of his wife’s suitors in order
to win her back. In his “Aeneid” Virgil tells us of
Aeneas’ flight from Troy and his quest to found
the city of Rome, his new home. Both Homer and
Virgil understood that at its heart the human
story is all about the journey home. This intu
ition is confirmed and filled-out all throughout
the narrative of the Scriptures. From beginning
to end they tell the story of a loving, heavenly
father calling his children home to the kingdom.
At the narrative’s climax, recounted in the Gos-
pels, we learn that our father’s desire to bring us
home is so intense that he has gone so far as to
send us his beloved son to extend to us the final,
definitive invitation.
Any discussion of ‘vocations’ must take place
within this context. As a stand-alone entity the
concept makes no sense. At its core, each vocation
is a particular, unique instantiation of the fa-
ther’s summons to the true homeland of the king-
dom. The etymological root of the word ‘vocation’
points in this direction. The word is derived from
the Latin verb “vocare” – “to call.” Thus, through
the son the father calls each one of us home.
But why does the summons take on such a
personal texture? Why isn’t it a generic call to
order? Because the kingdom is a communion of
love, and love is never generic. It is personal to
the core. A lover’s affection is always directed
to a specific beloved, and so the father’s address
to each of us through the son has the character
of a personal summons, a personal encounter.
It is here, at the point where the father’s sum-
mons meets us, that the drama of human life
takes place. This encounter is dramatic precisely
because genuinely loving exchanges only take
place within the context of freedom. The father
beckons us home but he cannot compel us to heed
his call. We must choose.
Our sketch is still incomplete. What does it
mean to accept the summons and set out for the
journey home? The Scriptures show us that the
summons always has the character of a mission,
a task to be accomplished. To say yes to the sum-
mons means to say yes to a mission. I can gauge
the quality of my “yes” to God’s invitation by
examining how thoroughly I have taken on the
task entrusted to me. At its base the mission is
the same for all of us. To accept the summons
requires that I accept the mission of setting out
for the journey home. I am not brought into the
Father’s house by a simple, uncorroborated “yes.”
For my “yes” to truly mean “yes” I have to give
my life to it. I say “yes” by actually setting out on
the journey. We find an early, outstanding exam-
ple of this in Abraham.
The Lord Jesus shows us that, because the
house of the father is the house of love, to set
out on the journey home means to progressively
conform our lives to the standard of love. But
there is more. He also makes known that, as the
father has invited him to cooperate in building
the house, so he now turns and invites us to share
in the work also. God dignifies us by inviting us
to labor alongside him in building the kingdom.
Each summons therefore contains a unique mis-
sion ordered to sharing in the building. This ex-
plains the multiplicity of vocations in the church.
Some are called to help in the work through
marriage and family life; others through the
ministerial priesthood; others still to some form
of consecrated life; others still in a whole array
of missions too numerous to count. To each one
is entrusted a mission that is irreplaceable and
not reproducible. No one is left out; no mission
is inconsequential. Here then is the center of the
dramatic scene. God has summoned us home by
entrusting each of us with a unique mission: How
have we responded? How are we responding now?
How will we respond from here on out?
According to the newspaper, Mark Doherty is a fourth-year student of theology at St. Patrick's Seminary and University in formation for the priesthood for the San Francisco Archdiocese. His article is deeply thoughtful, broadly encompassing and spiritually stirring, not to mention that it was succinctly and brilliantly composed. A priest who thinks and writes like this will rise in the ranks quickly. I hope he continues to publish so I can continue to be inspired by him and to quote him.
I love reading it. He hits on all the major themes that I find important. First, he talks about going home. We are from God and to God our soul yearns to return. Second, he talks about a father, our Father, sending his beloved son to "extend to us the final, definitive invitation" to return home. That is the new and everlasting covenant. [2] Third, he talks about God's unique love for each of us and that "[i]t is here, that the drama of human life takes place." All of us are created in the image of God and each of us has been imparted a part of God with differing talents and abilities. In God's eyes all talents and abilities are cherished but not in Satan's. Satan wants to sow the seeds of envy and greed, bitterness and vengeance and in my interpretation of the author's thoughts, the tension between seeing the good in all and unfairness and injustice in everything is the human drama. Fourth, he mentions that "[w]e must choose." In order to choose, we must have Free Will, an oft-repeated theme in this blog. The choices we encounter daily between good and evil defines our lives. They represent clashes between God and Satan and are always dramatic. Fifth, he tells us how we must choose, how to respond to the "final, definitive invitation," to the most important and critical R.S.V.P. in our lives, and that is by saying yes, corroborated by an action to serve God. To serve God properly, one must follow the will of God so that one can enter the house of God. Sixth, he says that "the house of the Father is the house of love." This is unconditional love, a love that is born out of humility. Finally, he tells us that loving and serving God unconditionally is just the beginning of our journey home. To actually reach home, we must participate in the work of God, by employing the gifts God has given to us individually. [3] He ends this thought with these beautiful words: "To each one is entrusted a mission that is irreplaceable and not reproducible. No one is left out; no mission is inconsequential."
May God bless us all on our individual journeys home. Let us not lose focus and stray onto paths leading us farther and farther away. When we do stray, may God lead us back onto the lighted path. Amen.
[1] Doherty, Mark. "The human story is all about the journey home." Catholic San Francisco, November 1, 2013.
[2] See http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/lesson/covenant_the_new_and_everlasting_covenant, Section V, subsection E, paragraphs 20-24 (the paragraphs are not numbered - they are counted)
[3] The more elaborate and the more perfect the gifts, the heavier the burdens; the more modest and the more awkward and imperfect the gifts, the lighter the burdens. Nobody is given a burden that is heavier that can be carried. Regardless of the gifts and the attendant burdens, we must be thankful for the greatest gifts of all, our incarnate lives and our freedom to choose.
Friday, November 1, 2013
All Saints Day - November 1, 2013
Quoted from Universalis.com:
You have come to the city of the living God where countless angels have gathered for the Festival of All Saints, with the whole Church in which everyone who loves without condition is a "first-born" child and a citizen of Heaven. You have come to God, the Supreme Judge, and been placed with "the spirits of the just made perfect" [2]; and to Jesus, the Mediator Who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads for the forgiveness of sins with immediacy; and to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God Who prays and intercedes constantly for the salvation of souls.
I re-wrote it in that way because God's covenant with the original chosen people has been broken and Christ, the Son of God, replaced it with a "new and everlasting covenant." [3], [4]. This new and everlasting covenant is for everyone everywhere, not just for the original chosen people and not only on Mount Zion and in the city of Jerusalem, and because today is the Feast of All Saints (in my mind all true saints only excluding ones canonized by popes for political reasons and for the sake of evangelical expediency), so I took the liberty to apply the verse specifically to the Festival of All Saints even though it is a verse that applies generally to a "festal gathering." [5]
Even as quoted, the image and concept expressed by the words "where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification, including these very words, were, I believe, divinely inspired.
Imagine that we are all in Heaven, all children of God, gathered together with all the angels and true saints before God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrating the saintliness of those sinners who lived (and are living) among us, separated only by earthly time and distance, fully vulnerable to the many variations of Sin yet resolutely strong, strong enough to turn away from Satan, leaving behind its tantalizing offers and gestures.
[1] Universalis, "Vespers (Evening Prayer)," Universalis.com, http://universalis.com/-700/vespers.htm (accessed October 31, 2013) Note: This quoted paragraph may not appear on the Universalis link because Universalis.com updates daily.
[2] Hebrews 12:23. The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible, Donald Senior, gen. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Print.
[3] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mk+14:22-24
[5] Hebrews 12:22. The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible, Donald Senior, gen. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Print.
Hebrews 12:22-24 ©If I were to re-write the paragraph, this is how it would read:
What you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s. [1]
You have come to the city of the living God where countless angels have gathered for the Festival of All Saints, with the whole Church in which everyone who loves without condition is a "first-born" child and a citizen of Heaven. You have come to God, the Supreme Judge, and been placed with "the spirits of the just made perfect" [2]; and to Jesus, the Mediator Who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads for the forgiveness of sins with immediacy; and to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God Who prays and intercedes constantly for the salvation of souls.
I re-wrote it in that way because God's covenant with the original chosen people has been broken and Christ, the Son of God, replaced it with a "new and everlasting covenant." [3], [4]. This new and everlasting covenant is for everyone everywhere, not just for the original chosen people and not only on Mount Zion and in the city of Jerusalem, and because today is the Feast of All Saints (in my mind all true saints only excluding ones canonized by popes for political reasons and for the sake of evangelical expediency), so I took the liberty to apply the verse specifically to the Festival of All Saints even though it is a verse that applies generally to a "festal gathering." [5]
Even as quoted, the image and concept expressed by the words "where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification, including these very words, were, I believe, divinely inspired.
Imagine that we are all in Heaven, all children of God, gathered together with all the angels and true saints before God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrating the saintliness of those sinners who lived (and are living) among us, separated only by earthly time and distance, fully vulnerable to the many variations of Sin yet resolutely strong, strong enough to turn away from Satan, leaving behind its tantalizing offers and gestures.
[1] Universalis, "Vespers (Evening Prayer)," Universalis.com, http://universalis.com/-700/vespers.htm (accessed October 31, 2013) Note: This quoted paragraph may not appear on the Universalis link because Universalis.com updates daily.
[2] Hebrews 12:23. The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible, Donald Senior, gen. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Print.
[3] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mk+14:22-24
Mark 14:22-24[4] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A26-28&version=NIV
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”New International Version (NIV)
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 “This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.Footnotes:
- Mark 14:24 Some manuscripts the new
[5] Hebrews 12:22. The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible, Donald Senior, gen. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Print.
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