"Miserere"

"Miserere"--a beautiful song [1] sung by voices from Heaven:

1. Andrea Bocelli and Zucchero at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_KVsJLFxz0
and by
2. Luciano Pavarotti, Zucchero and Andrea Bocelli at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYBHNLdwzbs

Some countries have given the world deadly diseases, others technologically advanced deadly weapons, yet others have focused on creating the best cuisine to bring joy to the dining experience and on cultivating talents that open hearts to the expansive sounds of Heaven.  Together, they occupy this planet along with others.  Lucky are those who live in places that are close to Heaven, not places that are deceivingly heavenly or like Hell.  Wherever one lives, a prayer [2], quoted below in Latin and in English, is appropriate:

Agnus Dei,
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
Miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei,
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
Miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei,
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
Dona nobis pacem.

The Lamb of God,
Who took the sins of the world,
Have mercy upon us.

The Lamb of God,
Who took the sins of the world,
Have mercy upon us.

The Lamb of God,
Who took the sins of the world,
Grant us peace.

[1] Translated by:

Roberta Locatelli

4 months ago

Have Mercy

Have mercy, have mercy,
Have mercy, poor me.
But I drink to life!

What a mistery is my life
What a mistery!
I'm a sinner of the year eighty thousand
A liar!
But, where am I? And what do I do?
How I live?
I live in the soul of the world
Lost in the depths of life!

Have mercy, poor me.
But I drink to life!

I'm the saint who betrayed you
When you were alone
And I live elsewhere and I look the world
from the sky
And I look the sea and the woods
I see me...
living in the soul of the world
Lost in the depths of life!

Have mercy, poor me.
But I drink to life!

If there was a night dark enought
to hide myself, hide myself
If there is a light, a hope
Gorgeous sun shining
inside me
Give me the joy of living
that isn't still here

Have mercy, have mercy,
That joy of living
that may be is not still here

 [2] http://lyricstranslate.com/en/agnus-dei-lamb-god.html-0

God's Children

Jews, Gentiles, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, believers of other religions [1] and non-believers are all God's children.  God speaks to each one individually and everyone is called to come home to Heaven [2].

Even though I would like everyone to be Catholic and holy, I am certain that the Catholic church is not the sole guardian of the key to Heaven even though many avenues within it are short-cuts for those whose believe in the Blessed Virgin Mary Who will lead them to Jesus, and through Jesus, the Son, they will meet God, the Father.  The Holy Spirit, the third and most mysterious part of the Holy Trinity, is also ready to bring anyone Heavenly fulfillment and peace when It is summoned with undiluted earnestness [3].

The Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin Mary are here for all.  Call on them.  They are ready to receive and embrace.


[1] http://www.religionfacts.com/big_religion_chart.htm
[2] Not everyone heeds the call of God.  Those who answer to Satan will end up in Hell.
[3] Praying for the Holy Spirit to enter one's interior takes more courage and concentration than one thinks, and the saying, "be careful what you wish for" applies.  The power of Holy Spirit is immense and limitless.

The Disturbingly Seductive Art Of Roberto Ferri

Below is an image of Michael the Archangel [1]:

The image of Archangel Michael above is not part of Roberto Ferri's work but I have inserted it here because I need to have Michael the Archangel above the next image below which is Lucifer.

The art of Roberto Ferri came across my search for an image of Lucifer.  When man is able to imagine it, it probably exists, for spirits can have many appearances and will appear to man's imagination to inspire or enslave him.  Roberto Ferri's image of Lucifer could be that of a male model but the gray gnarled foot, the blood-drained white finger nails and what I think is a metallic tail cannot be human, nor can the deformed bone structure with the round bumps below the knee.  Below is the image [2], [3]:

I do not know if Roberto Ferri has been inspired or enslaved by his God-given talents but to speculate on it is not the purpose of this entry.  The purpose of this entry is to introduce the beautiful work of Roberto Ferri, a modern-day Carravaggio [4] minus the Rembrandt-style theatrical spot lighting with dark backgrounds.

Besides Lucifer and other seductive but disturbing images, Roberto Ferri also painted Christ [5].  Perhaps the disturbingly seductive images are a glimpse of what Hell can look like.

Roberto Ferri is not the first fine artist to have imagined hellish images.  There are others, among them are Sandro Botticelli [6], Gustave Doré [7] and Salvatore Dali [8].

They each have different imaginations given the same subject matter, so I suppose that we, too, each have in our imagination our own Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, at least while we are on earth.  While Hell is usually far more interesting in man's imagination than Heaven [9], it is my hope that Hell is not so tantalizing in Its seduction that one overlooks Hell's disturbing and eternal sufferings and falls into It.


[1] Image from a search of images on Google: Archangel Michael
[2] http://www.robertoferri.net/gallery.php and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X2gKh_o6mc (video with music)
[3] Interview, in Italian, and many more artwork by Roberto Ferri: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcTTqwtkOsE
[4] http://www.caravaggio-foundation.org/
[5] https://www.pinterest.com/romanotje/jesus-christ-in-art/ and  http://wiki.cultured.com/people/Roberto_Ferri/
[6] http://www.worldofdante.org/gallery_botticelli.html
[7] http://www.worldofdante.org/gallery_dore.html
[8] http://www.openculture.com/2012/06 and http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/03/21/salvador-dali-dante-divine-comedy/
[9] Hell is apparently more entertaining too based on the popularity of the sinister and Godless movies produced by the entertainment industry.  See http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/

Beware The Desire For Justice

From the Gospel of Luke: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." [1]

From the Gospel of Matthew: " Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." [2]

These are words of God  They are simple to understand but difficult to live by.

[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+6%3A37&version=NIV
[2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%207:1-2

Waiting For What?

I went to get a haircut yesterday.  The barbershop owner in his forties observed that he was no longer young and lamented that he had lost his teenage good-looks.  Unexpectedly, he asked a ponderous question: waiting for what?  No one answered.  More than a day later in my mind, the question still lingers.

Why he asked the question I have no clue.  I suppose there is nothing exciting in his life to look forward to, for every day is mundane, working away to support his family.  I also suppose that he is not Christian or for that matter, a believer in any religion.

When life is taken for granted, when it is seen as a time spent in a vapid wasteland of recycled existence that leads nowhere, when it is lived without regular self-examinations of conscience in order to better oneself, to rest in God the hope of being a person of humility and charity, then life's future would surely be plain without meaning and hope, like a blank canvas with no image and no color that is as large as life is long placed before an uninspired artist with no talent and no imagination.

One does not want to own a canvas for life and be the artist without an iota of inspiration staring at it year after year waiting for something to happen because nothing will.

Thus the question, waiting for what, may have an answer after all: waiting for the rays of gratitude for the gift of life to emanate from within to shine upon one's canvas through the prism of a unique and irreplaceable existence that is each of us to cast upon it multidimensional images in a heavenly mixture of colors that changes continuously and varies from gloomy to spectacular, depending on the extent of one's of holiness at any given moment.

One must then ask: is it better to have a blank canvas at the end of life than one covered with stains of Sin of all kinds?

I would personally rather have a canvas stained with regretted sins than one unmarked by any acknowledgement of God and all the struggles between good and evil that one engaged in throughout life.  At the gates of Heaven and Hell, if I had no perfection to present, at least my battle scars would show, even if I had lost and evil had won.  With God's forgiveness, hopefully the Gate of Heaven will open.  That is what everyone is waiting for, whether anyone wants to admit it or not.

From Here To Holiness

A humanly unbridgeable wide and deep chasm separates the here and now from the somewhere up there and a time not yet here.  It is wide because of the countless permutations of Sin; it is deep because of the repetitive and the injurious nature of such sins.  In other words, the larger the variety of sins one commits, the wider the chasm, the more often one commits such sins and the more serious the harm that result from their commission, the deeper.

Man alone cannot bridge the chasm because he is naturally predisposed to Sin and all its variations.  Sin is like an opportunistic virus that seeks man as Its host, taking over his entire being when he is weak and unable to resist It.  Man is always defenseless against the lure of Sin.  Only when man attaches himself to God and prayer is he able to inoculate himself against Sin.  Like all inoculations, man's belief in God and prayer does not mean he will be free from the influence of Sin and will no longer suffer the consequences of Its manifestations--it merely lessens the intensity of his suffering when he contracts Sin.

For man to avoid Sin entirely, God has to intervene in an extraordinary way.  When God became man, Jesus was able to resist all temptations Sin had to offer because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  The Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, was made pure by God and led an undefiled and inviolate life.  No one else before Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary had anyone received the full grace of God to live a sinless life, and no one since.  Only by the extraordinary grace of God can one resist Sin and all Its manifestations.  Certainly, no one at present has it.

Indeed, many live their lives today in Sin and totally oblivious of the chasm between them and God.  They are smug--self-righteous without a scintilla of humility or charity.  Smugness itself is a sin and in my opinion, one of the very serious, for it is a self-ordained perfection that rests entirely on one's self-serving pride and flaunts the need for God, if God is even in the periphery.

For the smug ones, bridging their chasm will be difficult. Almost as challenging, albeit in a different way, will be for those who are scrupulous, for holiness is at the intersection of Truth and Perfection at a place somewhere up there that is not and cannot be found here.

Power Grabbers, Troublemakers, Liars & Killers

The ruthless and greedy power grabbers, the passive-aggressive troublemakers, the chronic liars and mass killers serve at the pleasure of Satan.  Whichever side they are on [1] makes no difference to Satan so long as they continue to ruin lives, disturb the peace and create havoc around the world, lie and kill.  These evildoers feign righteousness but are hypocrites.  They could not be more despicable.  While I say the Fatima prayer as part of my rosary for myself as well as for these contemptible creatures, my uncompassionate heart will not allow a single tear to shed if and when Saint Michael thrust them and their evilness into Hell.


[1] It is almost amusing to see the liars pointing fingers at the killers and the killers blaming the ruthless and greedy power grabbers and troublemakers and to realize that the liars are also themselves killers and the killers themselves liars, power grabbers and troublemakers.  Evildoers are evil and they do not need to be distinguished and separated.

The Suffering Church

Satan's influence upon the souls of men is gaining relatively recently, evidenced by forcibly burned and destroyed churches in the Mideast [1], [2], [3] and in Armenia [4] and desecrated churches in France and Italy [5], [6], voluntary Catholic church closings in the United States [7], [8] and government sanctioned curtailment of mainly Protestant churches in China [9].  The footnote citations show not only are ISIL and certain Al-Qaeda groups doing the work of Satan in destroying churches, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York is also doing the same to churches in America, and in my opinion, no less violent than what has been happening around the world, by his decision to "merge 112 of [the Archdiocese of New York's] 368 parishes into 55, effectively shuttering at least 31 churches by Aug. 1, 2015." [10]

The Cardinal admitted that "the restructuring is not the result of a shortage of priests, but from a shortage of the faithful.  'They're not coming anymore and we have to get them back.'" [11]

What? The Catholic Church can get the faithful back by shutting down its churches rather than inspiring the not-always-faithful and others to go to church to kneel before the alter to pray and meditate on the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament?

I seriously doubt that the churches that have been targeted by Cardinal Dolan for closure have no faithful attendees anymore.  I suspect that he wanted the churches closed because of financial reasons.  If my guess is right, then the Cardinal told a lie.  Why should anyone be surprised?  Satan is the Prince of Lies.  Those under Its influence [12] will lie on Its behalf, to desecrate and destroy churches on Its behalf, to shut down the very sanctuaries of holiness on Its behalf, so that fewer and fewer people could easily enter into a nearby church to kneel supplicate before the Forgiver of Sin often so that their souls may be saved.


[1] http://www.religiousfreedomcoalition.org/2014/07/30/all-45-christian-institutions-in-mosul-destroyed-or-occupied-by-isis/
[2] http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/07/20/ISIS-burns-1-800-year-old-church-in-Mosul.html
[3] http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=21758
[4] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jabhat-alnusra-blows-up-armenian-church-in-deir-elzour-a-savage-blow-that-echoes-through-armenian-history-9852372.html
[5] http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=22239
[6] http://eponymousflower.blogspot.com/2014/06/church-desecration-tabernacle-broken.html 
[7] http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1404533.htm
[8] http://www.westernjournalism.com/city-permits-muslim-group-desecrate-catholic-church/
[9] http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2014/08/why-is-china-tearing-down-church-crosses-because-its-terrified-of-religion/
[10] http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1404533.htm
[11] Ibid.
[12] This blog has consistently maintained that Satan seeks out the weak leaders in their respective thrones of influence and power in order to possess them so that they would speak and act on Its behalf, by putting distance between men and Christ, so that Satan can freely roam the earth seeking the ruin of souls.

The Miracles Of Prayer

Praying the rosary brings eventual peace into one's otherwise difficult and stressful life.  This is the first miracle.  Within this first miracle are eventual answers to one's prayers, including answers to prayers not prayed for specifically [1], giving one peace of mind.  The second miracle is not so noticeable.  The prayers of the rosary also strengthens the body and the mind, even when one is going through pain and suffering.


[1] An example of an answer to a prayer not prayed for specifically is the miracle of avoiding a traffic accident countless number of times by miraculously observing traffic, traffic signals, pedestrians, barricades, et cetera, just in time to slow down and/or come to a complete stop safely.

A Guardian of the Blessed Sacrament

An article dated October 24, 2014, by John Pontifex is quoted below [1]:

Bombs are falling and the sound of the explosion is sending shock and fear into the hearts of the people. Amid the sound of crying and frenzied activity, people pack up what belongings they can carry and make off into the night.

In the midst of it all stands Martin Baani, a 24-year-old seminarian. It’s dawning on him that this is Karamlesh’s last stand.

For 1,800 years, Christianity has had a home in the hearts and minds of the people of this village so full of antiquity. Now that era is about to be brought to a calamitous end; Islamic State are advancing.

Martin’s mobile phone rings: a friend stammers out the news that the nearby town of Telkaif has fallen to “Da’ash” – the Arabic name for Islamic State.  Karamlesh would surely be next.

Martin dashes out of his aunt’s house, where he is staying, and heads for the nearby St Addai’s Church. He takes the Blessed Sacrament, [2] a bundle of official papers and walks out of the church. Outside a car awaits – his parish priest, Father Thabet, and three other priests are inside.

Martin gets in and the car speeds off. They leave Karamlesh and the last remnants of the village’s Christian presence go with them.

Speaking to Martin in the calm of St Peter’s Seminary, Ankawa—a suburb of the Kurdish regional capital of Erbil—it is difficult to imagine he is describing anything except a bad dream. But there is nothing dreamy in Martin’s expression. “Until the very last minute, the Pashmerga [the Kurdish armed forces protecting the villages] were telling us it was safe.

“But then we heard that they were setting up big guns on St Barbara’s Hill [on the edge of the village] and we knew then the situation had become very dangerous.”

Taking stock of that terrible night of August 6, Martin’s confidence is bolstered by the presence of 27 other seminarians at St Peter’s, many with their own stories of escape from the clutches of the Islamic militants.

Martin and his fellow students for the priesthood know that the future is bleak as regards Christianity in Iraq. A community of 1.5 million Christians before 2003 has dwindled to less than 300,000. And of those who remain, more than a third are displaced. Many, if not most, want a new life in a new country.

Martin, however, is not one of them. “I could easily go,” he explains calmly. “My family now live in California. I already have been given a visa to go to America and visit them.”

“But I want to stay. I don’t want to run away from the problem.” [3]

Martin has already made the choice that marks out the priests who have decided to stay in Iraq; his vocation is to serve the people—come what may.

“We must stand up for our rights; we must not be afraid,” he explains. Describing in detail the emergency relief work that has occupied so much of his time, it is plain to see that he feels his place is to be with the people.

Martin is already a sub-deacon. Now in his final year of theology, ordination to the priesthood is but a few months away.

“Thank you for your prayers,” says Martin, as I take my leave of him. “We count on your support.”

John Pontifex is a senior journalist for Aid to the Church in Need [4]

ACN photo: Martin Baani

[1] http://www.churchinneed.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8115&news_iv_ctrl=1461
[2] The spirit of a nameless and faceless little girl in China lives in Martin Baani, the same girl who inspired Bishop Fulton Sheen to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour daily.  See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/701076/posts
[3] What problem did Martin Baani not want to run away from?  Perhaps he was referring to the Christ crucifiers.  How long would Martin Baani be able to protect the Body of Christ with his own?  I hope for a long, long time, despite the trials and tribulations that may lie ahead.  God is certain to be by his side, always.
[4] John Pontifex also writes for CatholicHerald.co.uk.  See http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/author/john-pontifex/

Religion & Politics

Politics and religion is inextricably intertwined, even in a "free" country such as the United States that has in its Constitution an Amendment that states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion [the "Establishment Clause"], or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." [1]  "The First Amendment's Establishment Clause prohibits the government from making any law 'respecting an establishment of religion.' This clause not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another. It also prohibits the government from unduly preferring religion over non-religion, or non-religion over religion." [Emphasis  added.] [2]

Interpretation of the United States Establishment Clause is sound, but there is one major problem--United States coins and United States Federal Reserve notes show the following words: "In God We Trust." [3]  They make no mention of Allah [4], Buddah [5] and Zeus [6], for example.  Thus, not only has the United States government tied itself to religion, but it is also preferring one religion over others and over secularism in contradiction to the Establishment Clause.

A secondary problem centers on these very words: "In God We Trust."  Does the United States of America really have trust in God and how should it follow the Catholic Church's schizophrenic interpretation of the Gospels?  Should it fight "just" wars [7], or love thy enemies [8], [9]?

While Christ is absolutely right that one should love his enemies, is it reasonable for one to consider those who torture and decapitate the vulnerable to be his enemies and to kill them to stop further atrocities in order to advance human civilization?  The question may be framed to elicit an answer in the positive but ultimately in politics, and sadly in religion too, the end game--who lives and who dies, the killer and the killed (literally and figuratively)-- is about ideology and power over people based on rationalization, propaganda and lies.

Only God knows if a killer ought to be forgiven, whichever side the killer is on.  Until the Truth is revealed as to who is right and who is wrong, who should live and who should die, who would go to Heaven and who would go to Hell, killings will continue, as will ideological politics [10], whether they are played by a secular state, a theocracy or a religion.


[1] http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution/the-amendments/amendment-1-freedom-of-religion-press-expression
[2] http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/establishment_clause
[3] http://www.treasury.gov/about/education/Pages/in-god-we-trust.aspx
[4] http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/moongod.htm
[5] http://www.aboutbuddha.org/english/life-of-buddha.htm/
[6] http://www.treasury.gov/about/education/Pages/in-god-we-trust.aspx
[7] http://www.catholic.com/documents/just-war-doctrine
[8] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+6%3A27-36&version=ISV
[9] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5:43-48
[10] Arguably all politics is ideological.

An Angelic Face No Longer

Below is a side by side photograph of actress Renee Zellweger [1] before and after her transformation, one that is, in my opinion, from angelic (left) to ghastly:

 Here are two more [2], [3]:

Sad is the cruel world of Hollywood, a place that attracts those who hunger for attention, money and fame, that objectifies people and reduces them to commodities.  Like commodities, they are bought and sold.  It makes no difference whether others buy and sell them or they buy and sell themselves, they know their prices.  No matter how big the dollar amount is at the end of a performer's career, it is finite.

God did not intend for anyone to be finite.  God created man and gave us Christ as a model of the infinite.  Being infinite, Christ could not be bought by Satan's most tantalizing temptations and is therefore priceless.  That is what God intends for every person--priceless in a unique way and to give to others the infiniteness within. 

The joy of being infinite is the Joy of Heaven.  Imagine how vulgar it would be for someone to wait around Heaven's Gate with a price tag around the neck when Heaven is looking for all who are priceless and infinite [4].

For those who find it necessary to alter one's looks or skin color, or maintain the look of youth to meet the shallow demands of Hollywood, may they find peace beyond their insatiable quest for popularity, wealth and fame, and beyond what they see in the mirror: the illusion of acceptance.



[1] http://sinarharapan.co/news/read/27528/-wajah-baru-renee-zellweger
[2] http://gossipmagazines.net/renee-zellweger-plastic-surgery/
[3] http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/renee-zellwegers-new-look-raises-eyebrows-20140314-34qoh.html
[4] Not everyone who earns a living in the entertainment industry (reality shows included) will treat his/her wealth as a ticket to enter Heaven, but it is reasonable to assume that some will.  Those who do have nothing but emptiness within.

All Saints Day - 2014

Each saint has his or her feast day and together they share All Saints Day.  I do not know all the names of the saints of the Catholic Church but am certain that some are far more saintly than others.  However, in deference to all the saints regardless of the extent of each saint's holiness, I have looked forward to their gathering on November 1st to pray away the darkness of secularization embraced by those around the world who celebrate Halloween the nights and days before.

Assuming that the saints do pray, their prayers have not been all that effective since the human race is still bent toward the darkness of secularization.  Not only is it largely oblivious to the Feast of All Saints, it has turned Christmas into a holiday that has little to do with celebrating the birth of Christ, but rather a time to indulge in shopping, feasting, drinking, gifting and refunding or exchanging of presents received.  More sinister is the human race spending more time dressing up as bunnies and Easter-egg hunting on Easter Sunday than reflecting on the meaning of Christ's resurrection, not to mention the many people who treat Good Friday merely as another holiday, and who do not give a moment's thought to the suffering and crucifixion of the Sinless Christ for the forgiveness of Sin and the salvation of souls.

How the Catholic Church has determined November 2nd to be All Souls Day when Halloween seems to be a day for all souls already is a mystery to me.  Is the Fatima prayer that is to be said at the end of each of the five decades of the Hail Mary ("Ave Maria ") prayer insufficient?  Perhaps not.  Since more and more people are hell-bent on being unsaintly, their souls would require their special day, so that those who are living can pray for them since the dead can no longer pray themselves, not until their souls enter Heaven.

On the Feast of All Saints, both the living and the dead would be glad to have the benefit of the prayers of all the saints.  All should be thankful for their prayers on their shared feast day and those who have the luxury to pray ought to pray that they continue praying.