1 September - World Day Of Prayer For The Care Of Creation

The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation was established by Francis I on 6 August 2015 [1], "an observance started by the Orthodox Church" [2] on 1 September 1989 named Day of Prayer for Creation by the "late Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios I." [3]

On 1 September 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople "call[ed] upon the faithful to 'realize that the protection of the natural environment is the spiritual responsibility of each and every one of us....'" [4]  Turning his attention to the youth, Patriarch Bartholomew said, quoted in part below [5]:

“Ecclesiastical instruction must instill in their souls a respect for creation as ‘very good’ [Genesis 1:26], encouraging them to advocate and advance creation care and protection, the liberating truth of simplicity and frugality, as well as the Eucharistic and ascetic ethos of sharing and sacrifice.”

The words "simplicity" and "frugality" contradict notions that are all too common throughout successive generations: "the bigger the better", "the more novel the gadgets the more desirable", "the more one owns the happier", forgetting that the earth is finite with limited natural resources.

The time to reverse the course of devastation brought about by vanity, greed, exploitation, insufficient abstention leading to over procreation and an over-populated world may already be too late.

Prayer days reminding people of Creation do not appear to be helping.  Covid-19, as inconvenient as it is, has slowed down the world as it barrels itself toward oblivion.


[1] http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2015/documents/papa-francesco_20150806_lettera-giornata-cura-creato.html
[2] https://www.ucanews.com/news/pope-applauds-initiatives-ahead-of-world-day-of-prayer-for-creation/89350#
[3] https://www.oca.org/news/headline-news/september-1-the-day-of-prayer-for-creation
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.

Archaeologists Discovered The Location Of Bethsaida

An article entitled Biblical village of Bethsaida where Jesus fed the 5,000, walked on water and helped a blind man to see is finally identified by archaeologists after 32 years of excavations  was published by Daily Mail  on 26 August 2020 [1].  Quoted in part below is from the article cited:

A Biblical village where Jesus is said to have performed some of his most famous miracles really existed, and today lies in ruins only a mile from the Sea of Galilee, archaeologists believe.

In the Bible, Bethsaida was home to disciples Peter, Andrew and Philip, and was where Jesus purportedly fed the 5,000, walked on water and helped a blind man to see.

Archaeologists have been working for 32 years to find the lost city, which was eventually cursed to destruction by Jesus because residents failed to repent in spite of his miracles.

...

Jesus was said to have cursed the village, warning it faced worse treatment than Sodom – a city destroyed by God in the Old Testament.  

Although Bethsaida did not meet the calamitous end Jesus foretold, it was ultimately abandoned.

Abandonment is a fate worse than destruction.  Be it a village or person, existence becomes quiet, with nothing to look forward to.  Silence longs for attention.  Moments linger, undistinguishable from eternity.  Even Christ on the cross experienced it [2]:

About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

[1] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8665771/Biblical-village-Bethsaida-Jesus-walked-water-finally-identified-archaeologists.html
[2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2027%3A46&version=NIV, quoted without references.

Herodias And Salome

The last blog post quoted Mark 6: 17-29. [1]   Herodias and Salome each played a major role in the beheading of St. John the Baptist.  Both were women but their respective character was not limited to them only or the female gender.  What went through their minds also go through the minds of men and women.

Herodias was already married to Herod's brother Philip before she married Herod.  It is assumed here that Herodias was not forced by Herod to marry him.  If she had been forced to do so, she would not have held a grudge against St. John the Baptist who chastised Herod for unlawfully marrying his brother's wife, and she would not have wanted to kill St. John the Baptist.

Based on the foregoing assumption, therefore, it can be concluded that Herodias married Herod who was the king so that she could be queen and have everything that comes with being one, such as her title, royal living quarters, personal attendants, fine clothing, accoutrements and so on.  This conclusion is supported by this statement from New Advent.org: "Herodias longed for social distinction, and accordingly left her husband and entered into an adulterous union with Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee, who was also her uncle (Jos., Ant., XVIII, v, 1, 4)." [2]

How Herodias was able to gain Herod's attention would have depended on the circumstances at the time, just as those nowadays who want to gain wealth, fame, influence and power, or have something as basic as a more prominent position and a better paying job, whether male or female, who will do whatever that is necessary to get what they want, by flattery, by lies, by sexual favors and the like, but will probably not be doing a provocative dance in front of guests at a party like Salome who perhaps thought that she would be rewarded by Herod in some way.  If this had crossed her mind, it turned out that she was right.

Even though Salome might not have thought to have the head of St. John the Baptist on platter as a reward, she nonetheless was under the control of her queen mother whose wish Salome had wisely carried out by asking for St. John's the Baptist head even though she likely knew that it was wrong.  Salome probably reasoned that it was better to have others suffer and die than to risk her own comfort, just as people do around the world, exploiting Mother Nature and turning it into a toxic dump without giving it a second thought, leaving the mess for future generations to clean up.

Salome was not an innocent little girl.  She was a player.  She knew how to please Herod and Herodias.  What happened to Salome?  Quoted in part below is from The Last Dance of Salome  published by Catholicism.org [3]:

Cornelius a Lapide quotes one Nicephorus (probably St. Nicephorus of Constantinople, +829) describing the scene: “As she was journeying once in the winter-time, and a frozen river had to be crossed on foot, the ice broke beneath her, not without the providence of God. Straightway she sank down up to her neck. This made her dance and wriggle about with all the lower parts of her body, not on land, but in the water. Her wicked head was glazed with ice, and at length severed from her body by the sharp edges, not of iron, but of the frozen water. Thus in the very ice she displayed the dance of death, and furnished a spectacle to all who beheld it, which brought to mind what she had done.”

The dance of Salome is similar to the dance of people with ideals of making this world a better, cleaner place while at the same time they continue to leave their own larger than necessary carbon footprints and to satiate their insatiable greed.

Unlike the death of Salome, there is no detail on the death of Herodias.  The online references that were consulted mentioned that Herodias went into exile.  Quoted in part without references [4]:

Herod lost his kingdom on account of Herodias, with whom also he was condemned to be banished to Vienna, which was their place of exile, and a city bordering upon Gaul, and lying near the utmost bounds of the west.

This was not the Vienna of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or of Johann Strauss.  Herodias "died [in] AD 39." [5]


[1] https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/6, 17-29.
[2] https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07292a.htm, quoted without hyperlinks.
[3] https://catholicism.org/the-last-dance-of-salome.html
[4] https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/what-ever-happened-to-herodias-and-salome/
[5] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herodias

Gospel Reading For 29 August 2020 - The Beheading Of Saint John The Baptist

Quoted below is from Mark 6:17-29 [1]:

17 Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.

18 John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

19 Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.

20 Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him.

21 She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.

22 Herodias’ own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”

23 He even swore many things to her, “I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom.”

24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”

25 The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request, “I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

26 The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.

27 So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison.

28 He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl, in turn, gave it to her mother.

29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Based on paragraph 26, Herod was too timid to break his prideful and "drunken oath of a king with a shallow sense of honor" [2] to his step-daughter, Solame [3], that he made in front of his guests so much so that he went as far as to order the beheading of Saint John the Baptist.  Herod did not have the courage to say "no" and to do what was right, even though "Herod was king – he did not have to stick to his oath – but he had no spine" [4] in contrast to Saint John the Baptist who was unafraid to speak God's truths.



[1] https://catholicreadings.org/memorial-of-the-passion-of-saint-john-the-baptist/, see also https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/6, 17-29.
[2] https://www.franciscanmedia.org/martyrdom-of-john-the-baptist/
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome
[4] https://frchriszugger.com/2017/08/28/beheading-of-st-john-the-baptist-sermon/

A Political US Catholic Nun - Updated 28 August 2020

Quoted from the National Catholic Register [1]:

Sister Deirdre Byrne spoke passionately about the sanctity of life at the RNC saying, "While we tend to think of the marginalized as living beyond our borders, the truth is the largest marginalized group in the world can be found here in the United States. They are the unborn."

Quoting further from the National Catholic Register [2]:

Good evening. I am Sister Dede Byrne, and I belong to the Community of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Last Fourth of July, I was honored to be one of the president's guests at his Salute to America celebration. I must confess that I recently prayed while in chapel, begging God to allow me to be a voice, an instrument for human life. And now here I am, speaking at the Republican National Convention. I guess you’d better be careful what you pray for.

It seems like Deirdre Byrne already had a voice, loud enough to be noticed by an American president to be invited to a July 4th celebration.  Was it really her prayer that was answered?  Or was it part of a party's political plan to use her as a prop in the way she used God for her political agenda?

When she "recently prayed" did she in the back of her mind wished that she would be invited to be a speaker at the political convention knowing that it was scheduled to take place soon?

If she had such a close connection to God, why did she not simply pray for all the women seeking to abort their unborn to turn to God asking God to change their minds and give birth?  Would that not be a better miracle than the one she believed in, one that God, rather than political operatives, arranged for her to stand in the political limelight and give a speech?

Where is her humility in all of this?  In her speech, she said: "Humility is at the foundation of our order, which makes it very difficult to talk about myself." [3]  Yet, she did in a previous paragraph, as if she wanted public acknowledge- ment with seemingly a degree of humble bragging.

Why is it necessary to involve God in the making her political speech, and worse, making public her private prayer to God?

Even though Section 2442 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoted below without references, does not apply specifically to a nun, its implication seems to reach beyond that of a pastor based on the wording of the second sentence [4]:

2442 It is not the role of the Pastors of the Church to intervene directly in the political structuring and organization of social life. This task is part of the vocation of the lay faithful, acting on their own initiative with their fellow citizens.  Social action can assume various concrete forms. It should always have the common good in view and be in conformity with the message of the Gospel and the teaching of the Church. It is the role of the laity "to animate temporal realities with Christian commitment, by which they show that they are witnesses and agents of peace and justice." [Emphasis  added.]

Nunhood is not "the vocation of the lay faithful." [5]

On a positive note, God still keeps His promise of the gift of Free Will.  Anyone, including nuns and clerics, can choose freely what they want to do and not do, and what they want to believe in and not believe in.  Like anyone else, they too, will one day have to face up to the truth and answer to God Almighty.


UPDATED: 28 August 2020

Quoted from Catholic Culture.org [6]:

The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life has argued against any tendency to ‘instrumentalize some topic for political ends,” in an apparent response to President Trump’s emphasis on the abortion issue. In an interview with Crux, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia said: “It would do great harm if some topic of bioethics is extracted from its general context and put toward ideological strategies.”

[1] https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/full-text-sister-dede-byrnes-speech-at-the-2020-republican-national-convent
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a7.htm, Section 2442.
[5] Ibid.
[6] https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=47676

"Of Rejoicing Spiritually in the Lord" By Saint Francis Of Assisi

The following paragraph is copied from the book Works Of The Seraphic Father St. Francis Of Assisi  [1]:

CONFERENCE XI.

Of Rejoicing Spirituality in the Lord.

ALWAYS, my beloved Brethren, have a holy joy in God, both interior and exterior.  If the servant of God endeavours to have and to keep spiritual joy, which springs from a pure heart, and is acquired by devout prayer, then the devils cannot harm him; they are forced to say: 'Since this servant of God rejoices alike in tribulation and prosperity, we cannot find an entrance into his heart, and are unable to injure him.'  But the devils rejoice exceedingly if they can extinguish or even lessen this joy and devotion, which come from prayer and good works.  For if the devil can once succeed in getting anything of his own into the heart of a servant of God, unless it be at once wisely and carefully destroyed and rooted out (as it soon may be) by the virtue of holy prayer, contrition, confession, and satisfaction, then in a short time of one hair he makes a rope, by constantly adding something to it.  Therefore, my beloved Brethren, as this holy joy comes from cleanness of heart, and the purity of continual prayer, we must principally endeavour to acquire these two virtues, that thus we may have this joy both exterior and interior, which I desire so greatly, and love so much to see and feel, both for myself and you, to the edification of our neighbour, and the confusion of the enemy.  Sadness belongs to the devil and his children, but to us perpetual joy and jubilation in the Lord.


[1] A Religious Of The Order, Translator. Works Of The Seraphic Father St. Francis Of Assisi.  By Saint Francis of Assisi, St. Pius X Press, 2017.  Pages.114-5.  ISBN 9781468130591.

A Hymn - Laudes On 15 August 2020

Quoted from  Divimum Officium, Laudes on 15 August 2020, Monastic version [1]:

O  Virgin, who shines with sun's rays surrounded,
And over whose head glows the twelve starred crown,
The moon of high heaven thy footstool is made,
Thou Queen of renown.

O thou Victress over hell and dreadful death,
Enthroned near Christ and ever our Mother,
Earth and the heavens sing loud of thy glory,
Thou sovereign Queen.

But evil still is menacing thy children,
Confided to thee by thy crucified Son,
O Mother, draw nigh, gainst the demon defend
By crushing his head.

Guard thou the faithful all who follow thy Son,
And bring back to the sheepfold of the Shepherd
Far wandering souls that are shadowed by death,
O save every one.

In kindness beg mercy for all poor sinners;
Also the sick, the poor, the sorrowful, aid;
Midst life's thorns grant light and peaceful assurance
Of our salvation.

Praise to the Triune Godhead everlasting,
Who hath caused thee, O Virgin, to be crowned,
And providently willed our queen thou shouldst be
Also our Mother.
Amen.

[1] https://divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl, select date (8-15-2020) on top; Laudes in the middle; all, Monastic, English below.

Exploring "Dormition"

Alphonsine Mumureke [1] was one of the seers of the apparitions in Kibeho, Rwanda.  She went on a "mystical journey", a "phenomenon [that occurred] on March 20 and 21, 1982." [2]  Quoted below is from michaeljournal.org  [3]:

She inform[ed] the Sister directress and her classmates in advance: “I will look dead, but don't be afraid; don't bury me!” The journey last[ed] eighteen hours. Priests, nurses, religious, the medical assistant of the Red Cross, all [could] see Alphonsine plunged into a deep sleep, her body straight and very heavy. They [could not] lift her nor separate her hands that [were] joined. During this journey, the Blessed Virgin show[ed] her Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. [Italicized and bold emphases original.]

This phenomenon sounds like a "dormition" that perhaps the Blessed Virgin Mary had similarly experienced before Her Assumption into Heaven.  Could this explain why "[n]othing is said in the Bible about the end of [the Blessed Virgin] Mary's life"? [4]

By contrast, Christ did die on the cross, and all four gospels reported on the burial of Jesus, with differences [5]:

Matthew 27:59–61 

Joseph took Jesus' body and wrapped it in linen.
Joseph placed the body in his own new tomb that he had cut out, rolled a stone in front of it and left.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting opposite the tomb.


Mark 15:46–47

Joseph bought linen, took down the body and wrapped it.
Joseph put it in a tomb cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw the entombment.


Luke 23:53–56

Joseph took the body down, wrapped it in linen.
He put it in an unused tomb cut in the rock.
It was just before Sabbath.
The women from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the entombment.
They went home and made spices and perfumes. They rested on Sabbath to obey the commandment.


John 19:39–42

Nicodemus brought a myrrh/aloes mixture of about 75 pounds.
Nicodemus and Joseph wrapped Jesus' body, with the spices, in strips of linen.
At a garden, near where Jesus was crucified, was an unused new tomb.
As the tomb was nearby and it was Preparation Day, they laid Jesus there.

[1] http://kibeho-sanctuary.com/index.php/en/apparitions/visionaries
[2] https://www.michaeljournal.org/articles/roman-catholic-church/item/messages-of-our-lady-of-sorrows-in-kibeho-rwanda
[3] Ibid.
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_the_Virgin
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_of_Jesus, quoted without reference and hyperlinks.

Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - 15 August 2020

Today 14 August 2020 is the Vigil of the Assumption of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It remains unclear whether the Blessed Mother actually died or went into a state of dormition prior to Her Assumption.  Dormition is a word from the "late 15th century: from French, from Latin dormitio(n- ) ‘falling asleep’, from dormire ‘to sleep’." [1]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 966, quoted below, did not say that the Blessed Virgin Mary had died  [2] [Emphasis  added.]:

"Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:

In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.509 [Emphasis  added.]

(509 Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion, Feast of the Dormition, August 15th.)

Quoting in part from Catholic Straight Answers [3]:

Since Mary was free of Original Sin and its effects (one of which is corruption of the body at death), since she shared intimately in the life of the Lord and in His passion, death, and resurrection, and since she was present at Pentecost, this model disciple appropriately shared in the bodily resurrection and glorification of the Lord at the end of her life.

Given this understanding, Pope Pius XII solemnly defined in Munificentissimus Deus  on November 1, 1950 that “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”  [Paragraph 44, quoted further below]  Note that the solemn definition does not specify whether Mary physically died before being assumed or just was assumed; it simply states, “Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life….”

So did Mary die first before being assumed?  Did she fall “asleep”?  Was she buried?  The Church does not bind us to a particular answer because the tradition is not clear.

In contrast to Catholic Straight Answers, Catholic Online  insisted with certainty, leaving no room for doubt, that the Blessed Virgin Mary did die in an article authored by Shirley Aaron dated 21 February 2018. [4]  She included a quote from Pope John Paul II without a citation.  How reliable is that?  Even if those words were his, he cited no convincing authority to support them, referring only to a "common tradition."  Quoted below is what Shirley Aaron claimed that Pope John Paul II had "pointed out", copied and pasted without her italics and her emphasis in bold [4]:

Some theologians have in fact maintained that the Blessed Virgin did not die and and [sic] was immediately raised from earthly life to heavenly glory. However, this opinion was unknown until the 17th century, whereas a common tradition actually exists which sees Mary’s death as her entry into heavenly glory.

Shirley Aaron also cited Pope Pius XII’s encyclical Munificentissimus Deus, as did Catholic Straight Answers (quoted earlier), to support her claim that the Blessed Virgin Mary did die prior Her Assumption by focusing on interesting background information that relied on "sacramentary" and liturgical sources that did not appear to have been unsubstantiated by facts in Paragraphs 17 and 18, as opposed to the encyclical's official pronouncement.

Shirley Aaron's uncompromising insistence that the Blessed Virgin Mary did die seemed to have made her miss the operative words of Catholic dogma pronounced in Paragraph 44 of Pope Pius XII's encyclical Munificentissimus Deus, quoted below are Paragraphs 17, 18 (without references) and 44 from Vatican.va  [5] [Emphasis  added]:

17. In the liturgical books which deal with the feast either of the dormition or of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin there are expressions that agree in testifying that, when the Virgin Mother of God passed from this earthly exile to heaven, what happened to her sacred body was, by the decree of divine Providence, in keeping with the dignity of the Mother of the Word Incarnate, and with the other privileges she had been accorded. Thus, to cite an illustrious example, this is set forth in that sacramentary which Adrian I, our predecessor of immortal memory, sent to the Emperor Charlemagne. These words are found in this volume: "Venerable to us, O Lord, is the festivity of this day on which the holy Mother of God suffered temporal death, but still could not be kept down by the bonds of death, who has begotten your Son our Lord incarnate from herself."

18. What is here indicated in that sobriety characteristic of the Roman liturgy is presented more clearly and completely in other ancient liturgical books. To take one as an example, the Gallican sacramentary designates this privilege of Mary's as "an ineffable mystery all the more worthy of praise as the Virgin's Assumption is something unique among men." And, in the Byzantine liturgy, not only is the Virgin Mary's bodily Assumption connected time and time again with the dignity of the Mother of God, but also with the other privileges, and in particular with the virginal motherhood granted her by a singular decree of God's Providence. "God, the King of the universe, has granted you favors that surpass nature. As he kept you a virgin in childbirth, thus he has kept your body incorrupt in the tomb and has glorified it by his divine act of transferring it from the tomb."

44. For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

The words Pope Pius XII chose to use for the pronouncement in his encyclical Munificentissimus Deus  after "pour[ing] forth prayers of supplication again and again to God" appear to leave open the possibility that the Blessed Virgin Mary might not have died prior to Her Assumption, one that Shirley Aaron decided to ignore.

Shirley Aaron's own conclusion that the Blessed Virgin Mary had died before being assumed into Heaven seemed quite convincing initially, by emphasizing the Blessed Mother's humility.  Shirley Aaron's words are quoted in part below [6]:

It was the same sort of humility practiced by her Son throughout His earthly life ... and supremely in His voluntarily Death. How fitting, therefore, that the Virgin Mary’s death should echo that of her Son!

However, after reading it again and thinking more about it, her conclusion no longer looked convincing.  It is precisely because of the Blessed Virgin Mary's humility that it would not  be "fitting" "that the [Blessed] Virgin Mary’s death should echo that of her Son!"

Assuming that Shirley Aaron was correct that the Blessed Virgin Mary did die, in what ways did the Blessed Virgin Mary "echo" the death of Her Son?  Was She crucified?  Was She wrapped in a burial shroud?  If She had been wrapped in a burial shroud, who wrapped it and why did Her shroud not "echo" Her Son's shroud, leaving it in Her tomb with an image of Her as in the Shroud of Turin?  Where is Her burial shroud being displayed today?  Did Her death and Her Assumption change the course of history by "echoing" that of Her Son?

The Blessed Virgin Mary, in a apparition said "I am the Immaculate Conception" to Bernadette Soubirous (now a saint) on 25 March 1858 [7].  The Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without the stain of Original Sin; therefore, these words of God spoken in the Garden of Eden ought to apply to Her, the new Eve Who would have obeyed God and would not have been tempted by the Serpent to touch and eat the forbidden fruit, quoted in part without references [8]:

... but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

According to these words of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, immaculately conceived, might not have died before Her Assumption into Heaven.

A thoughtful conclusion, quoted in part below, on whether the Blessed Virgin Mary died or merely slept prior to Her Assumption came as an answer given by William J. Byron, S.J., to the questions asked: "... my second question relates to the [Blessed] Virgin Mary. Did [S]he die?  Since death is a punishment for sin and [S]he was never tainted by sin, why would [S]he have died?" [9]:

... centuries of speculation touch upon your question. Answer it for yourself and ask why you wanted the answer to be the one you prefer. Th en [sic] ask what your answer tells you about yourself, as well as about the [Blessed Virgin] Mary you want [H]er to be.

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=Dormition&oq=Dormition&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8, click on down arrow.
[2] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p6.htm, quoted without references except for footnote 509.
[3] https://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-do-we-mean-by-the-sleep-of-mary-or-the-dormition-of-mary/
[4] http://francismary.org/did-the-blessed-virgin-mary-die/
[5] http://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus.html
[6] http://francismary.org/did-the-blessed-virgin-mary-die/
[7] http://www.catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/bg_lourdes_conception.htm
[8] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+3%3A1-3&version=NIV
[9] http://www.catholicdigest.com/from-the-magazine/ask-father/200801-01did-the-virgin-mary-die/

Five Men To Be Ordained As Priests In Massachusetts

It is always a happy occasion to read about ordinations to the priesthood.  In this instance, the ordinations for five transitional deacons will take place on 15 August 2020, in Springfield, Massachusetts. [1], [2]

The inspiration for this blog entry came after seeing two photographs of the candidates [3], [4].  The personal thoughts here are not in any way intended to insult or denigrate.  Everyone has a reason to do, and the freedom to choose, what he/she wants.  Before expressing them, one ought to be mindful of these words from 1 Corinthians 13:13 [5]:

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

One also ought to be mindful of the following sections quoted selectively from the Catechism of the Catholic Church ("CCC") without references [6]:

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. 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." It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty. [Emphasis  added.]

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

2446 St. John Chrysostom vigorously recalls this: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." "The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity":

When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice.

2447 The works of mercy are charitable  actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God:... [Emphasis  added.]

The photographs attached to article footnoted under [3] and [4] show two of the five transitional deacons to be rather obese.  It is difficult to comprehend how one can grow to be so rotund consuming only a moderate, or a minimum, amount of foods and drinks needed to stay alive and healthy.

(A discussion of health risks associated with obesity is beyond the scope of this blog.)

Is over-eating consistent with "the poverty of Jesus" in CCC Section 2444?  Is it "compatible" with "immoderate love of riches [here, foods and drinks] or their selfish use [here, gorging] " in CCC Section 2445?  Is eating and drinking more than necessary to sustain life the same as not "enabl[ing] the poor to share in our goods [here, meals and snacks, which is like stealing] from them and [perhaps] depriv[ing] them of life" in CCC Section 2446?  How often do obese clerics think of those who are hungry and of feeding them in CCC Section 2447 while they indulge in foods and drinks?

The two soon-to-be priests are not the only ones in the Catholic Church with big bellies.  Many with oversized waists can be seen at every level of the Church's hierarchy all the way up to the very top, including some of those who are part of the mendicant religious orders, such as the " Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians (Augustinian Hermits), and Carmelites, as well as Trinitarians, Mercedarians, Servites, Minims, Hospitallers of St. John of God, and the Teutonic Order." [7]

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, modest consumption of foods and drinks is not a specific vow that needs to be taken by priests [8]:

Priests who belong to a religious order (e.g., Dominicans, Benedictine, Franciscans, etc.) take the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Diocesan priests make two promises- celibacy and obedience; these promises are part of the ordination ceremony. It is also expected that diocesan priests will lead a life of simplicity consonant with the people they serve.

It would seem like the vow of poverty would be broken by overindulgences in foods and drinks, but that does not apply to diocesan priests.  This is good news for fat diocesan priests and clerics who love to eat and consume alcoholic beverages and for the two already overweight soon-to-be priests.

Section 1866 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church  is quoted below without reference [9]:

1866 Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.  [Emphasis  added.]

"Gluttony is defined as intemperate eating. The Catholic Church considers it the fifth of the seven cardinal sins." [10]

Should obese clerics be reminded of the sin of gluttony?  It is not necessary.  Quoted below without references is from Luke 16:25-31 [11]:

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ [Emphasis  added.]

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Despite may be having a vice or two or three here and there, all five transitional deacons ought to be congratulated on their future profession as shepherds.



[1] http://diospringfield.org/wp-content/uploads/Five-to-be-ordained-Catholic-priests-on-August-15-2020.pdf
[2] http://iobserve.org/2019/05/26/five-seminarians-ordained-as-transitional-deacons/
[3] https://www.masslive.com/springfield/2020/08/springfield-bishop-mitchell-rozanski-to-ordain-five-into-priesthood.html
[4] http://iobserve.org/2020/08/01/five-men-scheduled-to-be-ordained-to-diocesan-priesthood-on-aug-15/
[5] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13%3A1-13&version=KJV, quoted without references.
[6] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a7.htm, Sections 2444-7.
[7] https://www.britannica.com/topic/mendicant-Roman-Catholicism, quoted without hyperlinks.
[8] https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/priesthood/priestly-formation/faqs-priesthood-ordination-seminary, at 10.
[9] https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a8.htm
[10] https://www.alimentarium.org/en/knowledge/sin-gluttony#:~:text=Gluttony%20is%20defined%20as%20intemperate,bounds%20of%20codified%2C%20convivial%20meals.
[11] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2016%3A19-31&version=NIV

Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney Feast Day - August 8 (Extraordinary Form)

The feast day of St. Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, Le Curé d'Ars, is celebrated on August 4 (Ordinary Form), on August 8 (Extraordinary Form). [1]  The paragraph below is quoted from Wikipedia,  without references [2]:

As parish priest, Vianney realized that the [French] Revolution's aftermath had resulted in religious ignorance and indifference, due to the devastation wrought on the Catholic Church in France. At the time, Sundays in rural areas were spent working in the fields, or dancing and drinking in taverns. Vianney spent time in the confessional and gave homilies against blasphemy and paganic dancing. If his parishioners did not give up this dancing, he refused them absolution.

Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney was very strict.  Anyone who can live up to his standards would most certainly be a saint.

Below are selected excerpts quoted from 23rdstreet.com on Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney [3]:

Now, if you ask me what repentance is, I tell you that it is an anguish of the soul and a detestation for past sin, and a firm resolve never to sin again. Yes, my brethren, this is the foremost of all conditions which God makes before pardoning our sins, and it can never be dispensed with.

Without it, it is impossible, absolutely impossible, to obtain forgiveness. Yes, my brethren, I must say with deep regret that the want of repentance is the cause of a great number of sacrilegious  confessions and Communions... [Emphasis  added.]

[W]e confess, but our heart does not take part in the accusation which we make against ourselves. We approach the Holy Sacrament with as cold, unfeeling, and indifferent a heart as if performing an indifferent act of no consequence.

Thus we live from day to day, from year to year, until we approach death, when we expect to find that we have done something to our credit, only to discover nothing but sacrileges, which we have committed by our confessions and Communions.  Oh, my God, how many Christians there are who will discover at the hour of their death nothing but invalid confessions! But I will not go further into this matter, for fear that I may frighten you, and yet you ought really to be brought to the verge of despair, so that you may stop immediately, and improve your condition right now, instead of waiting until that moment when you will recognize your condition, and when it will be too late to improve it. [Emphasis  added.]

But let us continue with our explanation, and you will soon learn, my brethren, whether you had the repentance in all your confessions, which is so absolutely necessary for the forgiveness of sin.

I said that repentance is an anguish of soul. It is absolutely necessary that a sinner weep over his sins either in this world or the next. In this world we can wipe out our sins by repentance, but not in the next. We should be very grateful to our dear Lord that the anguish of our soul is sufficient for Him to let it be followed by eternal joy, instead of making us suffer that eternal repentance and those awful tortures which would be our lot in the next life, that is, hell.

One can only hope that Christ Who said the following to Peter is more is merciful and forgiving than the Curé d'Ars [4]:

Then came Peter to [H]im, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Christ also said this [5]:

Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Vianney
[2] Ibid.
[3] http://www.23rdstreet.com/pdf/jean-marie_vianney/repentance_passion_sunday.pdf
[4] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18%3A21-22&version=KJV, quoted without references.
[5] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+17%3A3-4&version=KJV, quoted without references.

Funny Words Of Baptism Are Invalid - Baptize Again

Quoted below are Sections 1239 and 1240 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church [1]:

1239 The essential rite  of the sacrament follows: Baptism  properly speaking. It signifies and actually brings about death to sin and entry into the life of the Most Holy Trinity through configuration to the Paschal mystery of Christ. Baptism is performed in the most expressive way by triple immersion in the baptismal water. However, from ancient times it has also been able to be conferred by pouring the water three times over the candidate's head. [Italics  original.] 

1240 In the Latin Church this triple infusion is accompanied by the minister's words: "N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." In the Eastern liturgies the catechumen turns toward the East and the priest says: "The servant of God, N., is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." At the invocation of each person of the Most Holy Trinity, the priest immerses the candidate in the water and raises him up again.

Invalid - X [2]:

“In the name of the father and of the mother, of the godfather and of the godmother, of the grandparents, of the family members, of the friends, in the name of the community we baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.

Invalid - X [3]:

“I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier” and “I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer”.

Remedy - ✓ [4]:

Such “baptisms” are not valid, and those who undergo a ceremony using those formulas must be unconditionally baptized.

[1] https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a1.htm
[2] https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2020-08/cdf-baptisms-with-arbitrarily-modified-formulas-are-not-valid.html
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.

The Transfiguration Of The Lord Jesus Christ

The Transfiguration Of The Lord Jesus Christ is remembered today, 6 August.  The Gospel reading is Matthew 17:1-9.  Big C Catholics  has this to say [1]:

The Transfiguration embodies Jesus as the [O]ne in [W]hom human nature meets God: the union of the temporal and the eternal, with Christ as the bridge between Heaven and earth.

The "human nature" referred to above must be the type tainted with Original Sin.  Without Original Sin, there would be no death and therefore existence would be eternal, not temporal.  In the Garden of Eden, God admonished Eve and Adam [2]:

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Back to Matthew 17, verse 5, in which God said [3]:

“This is my beloved Son, with [W]hom I am well pleased; listen to [H]im.”

Eve and Adam did not listen to God.  How well have their descendants listened to the Son of God?  Not that well.  Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Who was then scourged, mocked and crucified.  As the years pass, hardly anyone listens to God's beloved Son Who said [4]:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.

This is the greatest and the first commandment.

And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Nowadays, loving God is often seen being played a drama for public consumption; and loving one's neighbor seems only possible when the neighbor belongs to the same economic class and social status, or higher, and when the neighbor shares the same culture, belongs to the same religion, the same political party, the same racial and ethnic makeup.

While Christ may be somewhat disappointed, Satan is delighted seeing many people of different races, ethnicities, political affiliations, religions, cultures with vastly different assets (if any) and societal standings unite together in envy, greed, lust, pride, and wrath.

In the end, death unites all as God promised in the Garden of Eden [5]:

 ... for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.

Does the Transfiguration of Christ allow every person to realize what one could be, a transfigured being after death that can either exist in the eternal Light and Love of Christ or suffer the unending agony of death and darkness without Christ, as opposed to mere dust that feels nothing?



[1] https://bigccatholics.blogspot.com/2020/08/feast-of-transfiguration-of-christ-2020.html
[2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A17&version=KJV
[3] https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/17?1
[4] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22%3A37-39&version=KJV, quoted without references.
[5] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+3%3A19&version=DRA, quoted without references.

Nicaragua Cathedral Firebombed - What Is To Blame?

Catholic News Agency  reported on 31 July 2020 that "[a]n unidentified man threw a firebomb into a chapel of Managua’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Friday, severely damaging the chapel and a devotional image of Christ more than three centuries old." [1]

It also reported the following [2}:

The apparent attack comes after tensions between some Catholics and supporters of President Daniel Ortega, who previously led the country for over a decade after the Sandinistas’ 1979 ouster of the Somoza dictatorship. Ortega has again been president of Nicaragua since 2007, and oversaw the abolition of presidential term limits in 2014.

Ortega’s government has accused many bishops and priests of siding with his opposition.

Backers of Ortega have led actions against some churches, including Managua’s cathedral when critics of Ortega took refuge there.

The link between religion and politics appears to be quite evident here, while other church burnings and others forms of desecration are not as apparent.  Can it be concluded that mixing politics and religion is to blame?

There are many opinions published online rationalized that Christ was political by resorting to intellectual dishonesty.  Those who love politics see everything through a political lens.  Those who have a close relationship with Christ see a clear difference between God's Truth and man's words that are often tainted by self-promotion (greed), self-aggrandizement (vanity) and self-worship (pride).



[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/firebomb-attack-damages-chapel-centuries-old-image-of-christ-at-managuas-cathedral-59193
[2] Ibid.