Research In Antarctica

I am not adverse to scientific research but do not see the point of having research stations set up by a number of countries in Antarctica.  Is it for the love of research that people are sent there or are they there because the countries to which they belong, like inner city gangs, desire to establish their respective turfs in the region?  If the purpose is the latter, I understand completely.  However, if the purpose is the former, I do not.  What possibly can be learned in the icy continent that could be advantageous to human existence besides the fidelity of mated penguins? Why must man go to the ends of the earth to meddle in the works of Mother Nature?  Why can man not leave good alone? [1]

I suppose that the desire to know and control plays a part.  Does that not sound like Adam and Eve's original desire to be like God?  Man, descendant of Sin, therefore cannot leave good alone.  He does not know where to stop, but he will know when.  That moment arrives when the cumulative effects of his actions are so adverse to him that he can no longer maintain his existence without having to struggle for it.  Each struggle to reduce a moment's pain would have to be purchased by a sooner death.  In other words, he would have to drink poison that kills him just to live a normal moment.

That day will come.  It is not biblical fantasy.  It is the start of Hell on earth.  Love God dearly so as not to have to live to see it.

[1] Not only are these so-called scientists stationed in the South Pole not doing anything worthwhile, they are damaging Antarctica.  "Across Antarctica, wastewater from dozens of research bases, housing up to 5,000 people at a time, mostly scientists, is releasing nasty chemicals into the environment—and into penguins and other wildlife.

"The most recent culprit: a toxic flame retardant called Hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD. 

"It’s commonly used in insulation, building materials, thermoplastics, and research equipment, including computers."  See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140304-antarctica-research-toxic-adelie-penguins-mcmurdo-station-science/

In Perspective: Stress

Worry and stress -- the story of my life, but the story is being edited I am trying to learn to live anew, with a new perspective, but it will not be easy.

It never is easy to abandon one's modus operandi and to re-prioritize one's value system, to, in essence, surrender what one believes to be in his control completely to God.  Believing that God will take care of us requires faith and patience, but we do not let that happen often enough, shouldering instead all the worries that burdens the mind and stresses out the body until the mind is exhausted and the body becomes sick.  Only then are we forced to stop and let things be, lest we trade our health and our very lives for those things that in comparison seem relatively insignificant or unimportant, for we can do little when we are sick and nothing when we are dead.

Death, the certainty of Sin, the absolute Truth of life, is the equalizer of all things unjust and unequal.  Living every day with the great equalizer that is Death, we ought to ask: What do we really want to be first in our lives?  What we own?  How perfect something is or is not?  How others see us or how we see our true selves?  How we have been treated or how we treat others?  How we have blamed or how we have forgiven?  How we have loved ourselves or how we have loved others and God?

When death is at hand, we have no choice but to leave behind our family and the people around us, the possessions that no longer have meaning or value, and leave in God's hands who we are, without pretenses and denials, and what we will become in eternity.

Therefore, it is less stressful to maintain the perspective that not everything can be under our control at all times, that we need only to try our best, rest, and God will take care of the rest. [1]  I put in italics the word rest because it is important to rest the mind and the body, to exercise, to get plenty of sleep, to be fully hydrated (with water) and to have a balanced diet (without overeating).  Following this formula will keep one looking young.  Conversely, stress ages, and ages one quickly.  So stop stressing out and starting looking awesome!




[1] The first time I learned this was from Fr. Eugene Lauer, O.S.B., when I was in high school.  He said, when I told him I was worried, "Try your best, and God will take care of the rest."  I want his words to ring from Heaven, where he is now, in my ears every moment of every day, from now on.  Pray for me, Fr. Eugene.  Also, I would like to add that I have never been a good writer.  I was a terrible writer when I told Fr. Eugene that I loved to write.  He said that in order to write well, I have to write every day.  I do not write every day, but Fr. Eugene would be happy to know that even though my writing still has much room for improvement, it is much better now than before.  Thank you, Fr. Eugene, for your patience in teaching me, your encouragement and your love.

Man's Music And God's Love

Music and love both have languages that people from all walks of life from every culture in every corner world understand.  Unlike God's love, man's music is vulnerable to the influences of Satan.  The songs that seduce the senses and excites man's carnal desires and those that incite hate and violence draw inspiration from the Enemy, but music that creates a moment of peace divorced from the cares of this world are divinely inspired. [1], [2]

God has given to man music to celebrate man's creation in a wholesome way but Satan has continuously debased man's wholesomeness with inspirations for lewd and repulsive music videos under the pretense of good music that taint what can be angelically beautiful and turn it into demonic vulgarity, reducing what was originally a gift by God --the wholesomeness of life in the flesh--into un-recycleable trash, Satan's true image of man.

God has also given to man unconditional Love that Satan cannot alter because man does not own God's Love like he owns musical notes.  The love between man and God is a partnership and a contract.  Unconditional love is an offer God continuously  has in front of man for him to accept.

In order to accept this offer, man has to obey God and live by God's ways.  If and when man accepts the offer and fulfills its conditions, the bond of love between man and God is established, and becomes inviolate.

No one, other than the Son of God, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, has been able to accept this contract without breaching any of its conditions, not even Francis of Assisi, not until God transformed him into a true saint. [3]

Since man is not capable of accepting God's offer because of Sin, Satan is able to have man bring upon his own demise.  That does not mean, however, that God has taken away the offer of unconditional love, nor does it mean that God no longer loves man unconditionally; it only means that man will continuously be seeking to fulfill his desires, however wicked, until he has truly, fully and forever rejected Satan.

When is the rejection of Satan going to take place?  Has it even started?  The answer maybe in the songs and the videos.




[1] It is not the label that gives music its heavenly quality for some religious chants are down right disturbing, even Satanic.
[2] Even music that is divinely inspired can sound like hell when rendered by someone with an evil intent or disposition.  Divinely inspired music can sound heavenly when performed by someone with a kind heart who is giving it and the performance to God with love.
[3] There are other saints handpicked by God, but I do not know enough about them or their natural sinful nature prior to God's intervention to mention them.

Where Is Heaven?

Heaven is difficult to pinpoint.  It is a place but it is everywhere.  It is not a physical place so there is no kitchen or bathroom.  It is a state of mind so anyone can go there wherever one is and whenever one chooses.  Heaven is not only accessible from a beautiful place with wonderful people; it is also accessible during times of tribulation, pain and suffering.

Heaven is a place where one is next to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, a place at God's side.

To conclude, I have a prayer:

Lord, please let us live the rest of our lives having Your Peace, Your forgiveness and Your Love. [1]


[1] It is never to young to say this prayer for no one knows how much longer one's life will last.

Beethoven's Choral Fantasy

Ludwig van Beethoven's Choral Fantasy is another of my favorites [1].  This is music that brings one a bit closer to Heaven.  It is an orchestral piece rarely performed, perhaps because of its relatively short duration, about 19 minutes, requiring a full orchestra, a pianist, soloists and a chorus, a composition that ranks in my opinion equal to the composer's famous Symphony No. 9, 'Choral' (as long as 79 minutes [2]), his 5th Piano Concerto (approximately 40 minutes [3]), 'Emperor' and his Missa Solemnis (80 minutes [4]).

A number of performances of the Choral Fantasy can be heard on Youtube, including a lousy interpretation by Lang Lang.  The best performance belongs to Evgeny Kissin and the Berliner Philharmoniker, the soloists and the chorus, Claudio Abbado, conductor. [5]  Take a listen with eyes closed and see how much closer Heaven is.


[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRKi4Tm0Ukg
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_%28Beethoven%29
[3] http://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/BEETHOVEN-Concerto-No-5-in-E-flat-major-for-Piano.aspx
[4] http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Cedes/TheCds_Voice_Choir_MissaSolemnis.html
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRKi4Tm0Ukg

A Prayer Played On The Piano

Listening to Lang Lang play Franz Schubert's Ave Maria as transcribed by Franz Liszt [1] is like listening to the prayer in musical notes (start the performance at 0:17 and end it at 6:27 to skip the applause):

Ave Maria
Gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena

Ave, ave dominus
Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedictus

Et benedictus fructus ventris
Ventris tuae, Jesus
Ave Maria

Ave Maria
Mater Dei
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Ora pro nobis, Ora, ora pro nobis peccatoribus

Nunc et in hora mortis
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Ave Maria [2]

I do not know if Lang Lang says the Ave Maria prayer in Latin or if he is even Catholic, but it seems to me like he prayed the prayer in his heart as he played.


[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swtoFRl0VsA
[2] http://www.songlyrics.com/franz-schubert/ave-maria-lyrics/

Serving God Without An Education

I can understand when a person is "called" to serve God but do not see why an education is necessary.  Is simplicity not enough?  Those who have seen apparitions have not been highly educated, like Juan Diego [1] and Bernardette Soubirous [2], whereas one as educated as Thomas Aquinas had never been privileged to see any and believed that "angels appeared only in the imagination of the human mind perceiving them." [3]  So Aquinas is either one who is brilliant or an idiot, or simply a brilliant idiot.



[1] http://www.sancta.org/juandiego.html
[2] http://www.marypages.com/bernadetteEng.htm
[3] http://taylormarshall.com/2013/04/can-humans-see-bodiless-angels-answer.html

Beethoven's Missa Solemnis By Otto Klemperer

On January 8, 2013, I mentioned the violin solo in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in D major, Opus 123 recorded by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert Shaw, conductor, but provided no link to the music.  Yesterday, I found a comparable 1965 recording by the New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor [1].  The violin solo begins at approximately 00:53:61, but the movement starts at 00:48:24.  No doubt Robert Shaw's 1990 interpretation was patterned after that of Otto Klemperer whose recording was made 25 years earlier.

In both renditions, the music produced by the strings of the violin is like the Holy Spirit descending.  It is ethereal.  Music this sublime can only be divinely inspired.
 

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lbPapR6VfY
[Update 9-1-14]: The link cited above was closed.  Here is another Klemperer recording of the Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, this one with the Weiner Symphoniker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcFEX191mm4  The violin solo begins at 5:00.  This 1955 performance, is as good, if not better than the 1965 version even though the sound of the recording is somewhat inferior.  See comment by by Andrew R. Weiss on July 28, 2002, at Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Otto-Kl5emperer-Conducts-Beethoven/dp/B000001K5T.  Here is another link, this one to the complete 1955 Klemperer's recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with the Wiener Symphoniker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X0I-2egC1s.  Here, the violin solo begins at approximately 00:49:29.  Just in case another uploader decides to close his account, here is yet another Klemperer recording of a live 1955 performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, with Chor des Norddeutschen Rundfunks and Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZhgsX8T8Ow.  The sound on this recording is better than the Weiner Symphoniker's but the violin solo starts, rather surprisingly, in this one at approximately 00:49:29 as well.  Read Amazon.com's editorial and customer reviews here: http://www.amazon.com/Klemperer-conducts-Beethoven-Missa-Solemnis/dp/B000VX1QMC.
[Update 11-2-14]:  In Concert  on ETWN broadcasted on November 2, 2014, "[a] festive performance [of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis] from the Staatskapelle Dresden, under the direction of Fabio Luisi, celebrating the heartwarming event of the reopening of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Dresden [in 2002]."  The performance is as wonderful as Robert Shaw's recording in 1990.  At the time of this update, it is not available on Youtube. 

My Empty Confession

An empty confession is a confession that is devoid of substance, and such was my first and only confession.  That took place eons ago.

Before that confession, I had thought for a long time what I would say, as if I knew for certain what was sinful that had to be confessed and what was not that I could continue to keep secret, even though I knew how silly that was since God knew everything about me, whether or not I confessed them to a stranger in a booth that I did not know and could not see.

The day I stepped into the confessional, I had rehearsed what I wanted to say over and over.  It was not what I was ready to confess that I had to muster all the courage I had, but to pair down volumes of specific instances of sin that would have taken days and days to itemize in detail.  I did not think any priest would be interested in my fact-specific, repetitive and tediously endless account of my sins.

The first thing I remember saying after I entered the confessional was that I had not confessed before, and that I had committed many sins and did not know where to begin, and it would take a long time to confess them all.  I do not recall exactly what I said next, but if I had to do it over, I would have said I was sorry for my sins but that I could not promise that I would not sin again.

I do remember the priest telling me that I had given this a lot of thought.  He was right.  And while I was hoping for some kind of just punishment for my sins and for not confessing them regularly, all I was told to do was say three Hail Mary's.

Not surprisingly, I was disappointed.  I was hoping that he would tell me to do penance for a whole year, if not longer, and I would have done it.  I did say the three Hail Mary's that he told me to say, and I said them as soon as I left the confessional.

Looking back, my confession was not a confession at all.  It was an analysis of my sins, not a confession of my sins.  I never mentioned any specific sin that I thought was a sin and confessed it.  My confession was an empty confession, my first and only confession.

I am determined to confess again.  I am not sure when, but I know that my next confessor will be one whom I will get to know fairly well, and my confession will be face to face, and it will be somewhere besides a confessional.  It could even be at some distance from the church, at a retreat perhaps.  Wherever it may be, God will be close by to see and hear.  The entire confession will take time, perhaps a few meetings, but it will not be a listing of specific instances of sin.  It will be a grouping of sins.  For example, one group will be under impatience and another under anger.  There would be groups of sins that I have tried to overcome, and those that I cannot seem to let go of readily.

Beer Was Never The Blood Of Christ

At the wedding in Cana, Jesus did not turn jugs of water into jugs of beer.  At the Last Supper, Jesus did not pour beer into the chalice to give to His disciples saying that this was His Blood.  On the cross, the pierced side of Jesus did not let out beer and water.

Beer had not been made holy by Jesus and it may never be used to represent the Blood of Christ, but it is the life blood of a number of Trappist monk monasteries.  For the first time, "holy" beer is being brewed and sold in the United States by the enterprising Trappist monks of St. Joseph Abbey in Massachusetts [1].  They even sell a glass specifically for their brew. 

I am not a beer drinker but would order a bottle of the "holy" beer if I get the chance.  In the strictest sense, I am against monks engaging in worldly commercial enterprises, but I am also a practical thinker.  If I were a monk, I would want to make some money to maintain the building and the grounds too, on the one hand, while trying to live a life detached from the riches of this world, on the other.  Even though that is a conflict in and of itself, reality dictates what is necessary and what is necessary in this world sometimes requires sleeping with the devil.  After all, not every monk can be San Francesco d'Assisi, and not every nun can be Chiara d'Assisi.

The question to ask is how close a relationship should a man of cloth have with the devil?  Do those Trappist monks have to brew beer?  Does beer not lead to drunk driving, alcoholism and broken families?  What about monks growing and selling "medical" marijuana, or manufacturing and selling firearms?  What is wrong with growing and selling organic vegetables and fruits?  Too much labor and not enough pay?  Can anything that can make lots of money be rationalized?  "[M]ore than 85 percent of the American brothers [at St. Joseph Abbey] voted for the [brewery]." [2], [3]

As if there is a dearth of brothers and priests with protruding beer bellies, then by all means let them drink beer, so that by Christmastime they can all get jobs in shopping centers as Santa Clauses, alcoholic Santa Clauses.  In a few years, maybe the monks can start a treatment center for alcoholics so that they can earn money on both ends of their brewing business.


[1] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mass-monks-first-in-us-to-brew-authentic-trappist-beer/
[2] Ibid.
[3] Even in a monastery, money and majority, not God, rule.  I wonder what the few brothers who voted against the brewery were thinking of at the time.  The large financial commitment?  The possibility of failure? Alcoholism in the Abbey?  Saint Francis of Assisi? Christ?  All or none of the above?

Photo Of "Chosen People" Entertained By Bombs

How the Jews became God's chosen people eludes my knowledge and understanding.  Will God's true chosen people watch bombs land in the Gaza Strip as if it is entertainment?  Read disturbing article with photo at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/middleeast/israelis-watch-bombs-drop-on-gaza-from-front-row-seats.html?_r=0

If there was a promise by God to protect the Jews in return for their obedience to God and the Ten Commandants, performance on that promise is excused.  In other words, God no longer needs to fulfill the covenant with the Jews when they did not love thy neighbor, Jesus, and when they plotted to have Jesus crucified when thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. [1]


[1] I am not a biblical scholar so the conclusions I have drawn here may very well be invalid.  Until I am convinced otherwise, I will continue to believe that the Jews are no longer the only ones favored by God, if they continue to be the "chosen ones."  That was made abundantly clear on the Day of Pentecost when "the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, who caused them to speak in tongues. The crowds of visitors were astonished because every pilgrim heard the apostles speaking to him or her in their own foreign language."  See http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/a/Day-Of-Pentecost.htm  With that miracle, God had swung open the door to salvation for everybody else. 

Three Pianists - One Piano Piece - Three Renditions

Johannes Brahms' Intermezzo, Opus 118, No. 2 is new to me.  It is available on Youtube, played by Arthur Jussen, Evegny Kissin (starting at 2:01), Ivo Pogorelić and others.  I listened to the piece played by each pianist in the order listed.  After hearing Ivo Pogorelić's rendition, I ended my search for others that played the same piece.  In my mind, it was perfect. 

What to me appears perfect may be far from it to another.  Differences in subjectivity give rise to variety and "variety," as the saying goes, "is the spice of life."  The universe is about variety and variety is the work of God.  With variety comes choice and each person is given the Free Will to choose.

While there is but one path to God, man is able to choose freely its hues, shape and distance.  The more passionately colorful, the more tortuously shaped the path, the longer is the journey.  The length of one's journey to God is not measured in distance and time but in relative degrees of difficulty.  The more difficult the journey, the longer it seems to be in the mind of the traveler.

A composer of music expresses on paper his journey of twists and turns leading to God; a pianist lifts those dexterous fingers up and hammers them down on the keys of the piano, turning notes into sounds, and sounds into emotions.  Depending on the piano playing skills of the pianist, and on the depth and range of emotions the pianist is willing to give each note and caesura, performances of the same piano piece by different pianists will vary.

The genius of Ivo Pogorelić was his ability to lift the musical notes off a music sheet, study each note individually and together in clusters and translate them into sounds that paint wide ranging emotional depths, crisscrossing a vast musical canvas that form a consolidated path shared by the composer and the performer, one that is as intricate as it is unique and that leads steadfastly toward Heaven. [1]


[1] Another one of Pogorelić's brilliant performances was Beethoven's Sonate für Klavier (c-moll) Op. 111.  It can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKk-nntXrn4 .  The way Pogorelić played it, especially the Arietta beginning at 11:31, was exquisite.  If the second movement of Beethoven's piano sonata in C minor is a description of a section of the composer's path to God, then it is most certainly tortuous, intricate and difficult to navigate through, showing wide-ranging choices of the composer whose genius was fully captured by Ivo Pogorelić.

World Cup 2014 - Whose Side Was God On?

It was in overtime that Germany scored the winning goal of World Cup 2014 against Argentina.   The German Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI must have been pleased that his successor Argentinian Pope Francis' team lost.  Does that mean that God was on the side of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI?  Maybe the current successor of Peter has the answer.  If both popes prayed to God that his country's team would win the World Cup, then perhaps the answer is obvious.

The Legacy

No one's life is any more important than any other's in God's eyes but those who think they have led influential lives find leaving behind a legacy to be a necessity.

Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Peace Prize.  Many have received this prize, but is there peace in the world?

Less noble people suffer no lesser degree of megalomania than Mr. Nobel.  For example, libraries had been built to commemorate the accomplishments politicians.  I have never made a trip to any of such libraries, nor do I ever expect to have time for it.  I would rather go pray in churches around the world.

Not ever planning to visit a politician's library does not mean I cannot fantasize what some of them might be like.  My imaginary ones may have a touch of irony.  A sensitive reader may find them to be objectionable, so this is the time when the browser window needs to be closed.

Fantasy library no. 1:  The Library Of Forgetfulness.  The visitor walks in, absorbs all the information the library has to offer and walks out remembering nothing, not even who he is or what he had done his entire life, not even creating the world's first trillion-dollar deficit.

Fantasy library no. 2:  The Library Of Deceit And Destruction.  The visitor walks in and supposedly hears the voice of God in surround sound telling him to invade a country and depose a supposedly wicked dictator for allegedly having weapons of mass destruction.  As he walks toward the grand foyer, he sees a wax figure looking presidential with a red button controlling the world's second largest nuclear arsenal in front of a wall of mirrors with a banner across the top that reads: Weapon of Destruction, and on the floor, he sees a letter supposedly from a pope telling the wax figure not to invade the dictator's country.  Upon exiting the library, the visitor finds himself stepping on dead bodies and weaving through countless refugees.  At one point, he lifts his head and sees a larger-than-life hologram of the suffering Christ on the cross with blood dripping from His five Holy Wounds.

Fantasy library no. 3:  The Anti-Library.  This is not a library for the Anti-Christ but it is similar in one respect: it looks empty.  Instead of providing information to the visitor, it gathers information on the visitor, stores it in memory, performs a detailed ancestry and record search, then puts everything through a super computer so that by the time the visitor leaves the premises, the Anti-Library knows more about him than he knows about himself.  The violated and mystified visitor sees at a distance a hologram of two familiar figures, one above the other.  On top is an image of Edward Snowden, and under him an image of the megalomaniac for whom the library was built.

Fantasy library no. 4:  The English Lesson Library.  The visitor who visits this library will be given a lesson in word usage.  The only lesson the library teaches is what "is" is.  He is blown away by the infinite number of ways to parse "is" and walks away stained by shame.

Fantasy library no. 5:  The Feminist Library.  The visitor learns that the only way for a woman to be powerful is to act and dominate like a man, the consequence of whose actions ultimately subjugates women to men. [1]


[1] One ought to recall that it is both Mary's obedience to God and Christ obeying His Mother that lifted the Blessed Virgin Mary to be Queen of Heaven and Mother of all.

A Politician's Hell

Irrelevance, not criticism or hatred, is a politician's hell.

True Hell awaits many.  They are too wrapped up in their self-righteousness to realize that they are candidates.

Poverty Has A New Definition And Hypocrisy Is At New Heights

After reading the Catholic church's perennial teaching of love for the poor and a report on the Vatican and Holy See having a surplus in 2013 of 10 million euros below, I conclude that poverty has an entirely new meaning and hypocrisy has reached new stratospheric heights in house of God.  Anyone who is Catholic ought to be ashamed.  I certainly am but the fight for the spirit of the Catholic church must  go on until Satan and the betrayers of Christ are defeated.  Defeating Satan and Its minions requires speaking out against hypocrisy and betrayal.  Even the powerless ones whose voices are but soft, inaudible whispers on the outer fringes of cyberspace (including this blogger's) need to continue doing their part.  Whispers that are not heard by man are heard loud and clear by Satan.  With every such whisper, Satan becomes infinitesimally weaker.

The following is quoted from The Catechism of the Catholic Church [1]:

 VI. Love For the Poor
2443 God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them: "Give to him who begs from you, do not refuse him who would borrow from you"; "you received without pay, give without pay."²³¹ It is by what they have done for the poor that Jesus Christ will recognize his chosen ones.²³² When "the poor have the good news preached to them," it is the sign of Christ's presence.²³³

2444 "The Church's love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition." This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor.²³⁴ Love for the poor is even one of the motives for the duty of working so as to "be able to give to those in need."²³⁵ It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty.²³⁶

2445 Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use: ...

The following is quoted from Zenit [2]:

Combined Vatican and Holy See Finances Ended 2013 With 10m Euro Surplus

In an unannounced briefing in the Vatican Press Office this afternoon [of July 8, 2013], the director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, spoke to journalists about the results of the Vatican’s 2013 financial statements, and distributed an explanatory communiqué. 

The spokesman reiterated that during the meeting of the Council of the Economy Saturday July 5, the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See, as is customary at this time of year, presented a report of the two main budgets for 2013: the consolidated financial statement of the Holy See and the financial statement of the Governorate of Vatican City State.

“The results of the two financial statements, taken as a whole, is a surplus of about 10 million euros," Father Lombardi said.

Turning to the bottom line, he explained the consolidated financial statement for the Holy See for the year 2013 closes with a deficit of 24,470,549 euros, “due principally to negative fluctuations deriving from the valuation of gold, to the value of around 14 million euros.”

To comply with accounting principles based on the criterion of prudence contained in the “Regulations for the Preparation of the Financial Statements of the Holy See,” evaluative elements, and therefore not actualized, were recorded among the negative components in the overview of financial management.

Related to expenditures, he stated the most significant spending category was personnel costs. For 2,886 persons at year end, a net sum of around 125 million euros was spent.

Turning to taxes, he said something “noteworthy” was the Holy See’s payment of more than 15 million euros in taxes, chiefly real estate.

The communiqué reiterated that the administration of the Governorate is “autonomous, and independent of contributions from the Holy See. Through its various offices, it supervises requirements related to the administration of the State.”

It added: “The 2013 budget closes with a profit of 33,040,583 euros, an increase of around 10 million euros compared to last year. As of 31 December 2013, the Governorate employed a total of 1,936 persons.”

Fr. Lombardi noted that the contributions made pursuant to canon 1271 of the Code of Canon Law – i.e. the economic support offered by ecclesiastical circumscriptions throughout the world to maintain the service the Roman Curia offers to the universal Church – were "substantially stable." They passed from 22,347,426 euros in 2012 to 22,435,359 euros in 2013.

The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), as it does each year, offered the Holy Father a significant sum in support of his apostolic and charitable ministry, he reminded the press present. For 2013, Fr. Lombardi noted this sum was 50 million euros.

“Considering the overall combined results of the two financial statements, as is usual, 2013 closes with a profit of around 10 million euros,” the data shows.

After hearing the results, the Council for the Economy made the following declaration: “The Council has been informed by the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the budgets relating to 2013, and has taken note of the declaration by the External Auditor, according to whom ‘in all the most important aspects, the financial position of Vatican City State as of 31 December 2013 and the results of transactions relating to the year 2013 comply with the current accounting principles of the regulations of Vatican City State."

On this basis, it continued, "the Council has approved the 2013 Budget and invites the Secretariat for the Economy to work towards further alignment of Vatican accounting principles with international standards."

Father Lombardi also pointed out the communiqué’s note on the IOR contribution of 54 million euros and where it was "destined."

The note reads: "Since the Annual Report of the IOR published this morning makes reference to a contribution of 54 million euros, it is to be noted that, like last year, 50 million euros were destined for the Holy See budget, and the other 4 million euros for other works (in 2012 these included, for example, donations to the Fund for the support of cloistered monasteries, the Amazon Fund, the Fund to support the Churches of the former Soviet Union)."

[1] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P8F.HTM
[2] http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/combined-vatican-and-holy-see-finances-ended-2013-with-10m-euro-surplus

Three Questions

Paul Gauguin left France for Tahiti and painted "Where Do We Come From?  What Are We?  Where Are We Going?" [1]

I would like to live the life of Gauguin and have his talents [2], move to Tahiti and ask profound questions, but I am not Paul Gauguin, I do not have his talents or his courage to live life passionately.  Ergo, I am left to ask three self-centered questions:

1.  Why am I afraid to live the life I want?
2.  How am I enriched by my attachment to earthly possessions?
3.  What will I have to show for on Judgment Day?

I do not have a painting to entitle, but life is a canvas.  Hopefully, mine still has enough time left for it to be filled with meaning.

Do not abandon me, Lord.  May the Blessed Virgin Mary continue to intercede on my behalf so that I may walk along Your Lighted Path.  Should I stray from it, forgive me, hold my hand and guide me, so that I would continue to grow in Your image, Lord, and in Your image, Mother Mary.  Amen.


[1] http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/where-do-we-come-from-what-are-we-where-are-we-going-32558
[2] Although I would like to live Paul Gauguin's life, I do not wish to live it in its entirety, just the artistic part, and the part when he was in Tahiti for I love to be able to paint and I love Tahiti.  In truth, my true love has always been reserved for Vincent Van Gogh.  Somehow I have a natural attachment to his soul and his art, but I dare not live his life: he had a cross heavier than I could carry.  Van Gogh's Pietà (after Eugène Delacroix's Pietà) is my favorite painting.  Zoom in and take a close look at the facial expression of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the crucified Jesus.  For someone who does not watch many movies, Vincent &Theo is one I like a lot.

A Thought On The Fourth Of July

The 4th of July is Independence Day in America. It commemorates her independence from Great Britain in 1776.  Today, 238 years after the declaration of independence, the United States' closest ally across the Atlantic is the United Kingdom.

I do not know which was the day our first parents desired independence from their Creator by biting into the Forbidden Apple.  It was a long time ago and nobody cares to commemorate that singular momentous life-changing event.

Finding a parallel between Independence Day in America and Adam and Eve's Original Sin requires stretching the imagination.  When it is stretched, one can see to a degree the on-going relationship between the US and the UK is similar to the one between God and man in that the connection between them respectively has never severed, and can never be severed for man came from God and the US came from the UK.

Pope's Financial Woes

This pope ought to reflect on his own papacy in light of the following:

The embattled Vatican bank is heading into a new round of turmoil, with the resignations of its president and board expected soon as Pope Francis mulls how to reform the institution blamed for some of the Vatican's biggest financial scandals...

The bank's current president, Ernst Von Freyberg, was appointed in February 2013 in one of Pope Benedict XVI's final acts in office. He has never been received in audience by Francis, who was elected on a mandate of financial and bureaucratic reform.

Italian newsweekly L'Espresso reported last week that Von Freyberg would soon resign, citing a clash with Francis' personal liaison to the bank over access to information. [1]

 Questions for the pope to ponder:

1.  I chose the name Francesco after Francesco d'Assisi.  San Francesco d'Assisi was asked by God to rebuild the Church.  What would San Francesco d'Assisi do with a corrupt bank that was part of the Church he was asked to rebuild?  Would he have kept it or would he have given it away like the clothes he had on his back and his right to inherit his wealthy father's fortune?

2. Was I thinking how generous I could be with the money in the Vatican bank when I said: "When we are generous in welcoming people and sharing something with them—some food, a place in our homes, our time—not only do we no longer remain poor: we are enriched" [2] by buying food for the poor, building shelters for the homeless and spending time with those socially and financially disenfranchised instead of managing the Vatican bank and all kinds of corruption?

3.  Was I thinking about all the money and the scandals brewing in the Vatican bank when I said: "Poverty in the world is a scandal. In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so many children without an education, so many poor persons..." [3], and about how I am able to set an example by first cleaning up my own house before I ask others to clean up theirs?

4.  Am I a hypocrite?  Quoted below is from Matthew 23:1-12:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 

“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;  they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

5.  Should I renounce my hypocrisy, resign and repent, then rebuild the Church as San Francesco d'Assisi had before me?  Do I have the guts to do what is holy or am I too spoiled by popularity and comfort to consider stepping down from the throne of Peter?

6.  Do I believe in God?  Do I believe in God enough to pray for help?  Is it possible that God is fed up with the Church being more and more indistinguishable from any large and powerful secular entity that is constantly screaming for social justice rather than being a simple church that quietly advocates a prayerful life lived in humility?

7.  If God answers, am I willing to comply?


[1] http://bigstory.ap.org/article/pope-meets-top-cardinals-amid-bank-shakeup-rumors
[2] http://www.confrontglobalpoverty.org/our-faith-global-poverty/church-teachings/quotes-poverty-pope-francis/
[3] Ibid.

Opus Satanas

Violence has returned to eastern Ukraine after the 10-day cease-fire that expired on Tuesday [1].  The killing of brother by brother is the signature work of Satan ("Opus Satanas").  Satan wants nothing more than for man to ultimately destroy himself: man, God's beloved creation and the cause of Lucifer's ire that landed him in Hell where Lucifer was transformed into Satan.  Whoever lit the fuse that started the separatists' movement are Satan's surrogates.

Lucifer who clearly and correctly identified man's inferiority relative to his angelic intellect and beauty wanted to right God's "wrong" for having created man.  Powerful men and women who are minions of Satan also want to make "right" the things they deem to be "wrong."  They are of the same mind as Satan but do not share the same goal as Satan.  Satan wants to destroy man by using man to destroy himself; man wants to destroy one another to crown himself king.

Power is the drug of Satan to which man is addicted.  The effect of this addiction is the denial that the world does not belong to man, that man can never dominate and own the world and that man's tenancy on earth will end by man destroying his own tenement and himself.

Opus Satanas is a work-in-progress, an unfinished symphony being composed by Satan and etched in the mind of man with fires from Hell that boil man's passion, heightening his desire for superiority to control what little that can be controlled and everything else that cannot.  Opus Satanas will be a masterpiece.  Like some symphonic masterpieces of the classical genre, Opus Satanas will end with a bang except that the next sound will be the absence of sounds because no one will be left to cough, yell "bravo" and applause.

One can only hope that it will not come to this silent end, that man with all his shortcomings will find enough humility to shake off his addiction to power and give up his entire being to God so that he can be made whole.  Upon seeing man's wholeness that is the work of God, or Opus Dei, Satan would lose Its grip on man and would be left with nothing but defeat and dejection while Its Opus Satanas disintegrates and falls flat.  On that day, peace will prevail in Ukraine, the Mideast and everywhere else on earth.


[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ukraine-forces-press-assault-hours-after-ceasefires-suspension/2014/07/01/f0f313e0-0104-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html