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Years later, things one does in college do not always rise to the top of things you want to remember. Thankfully, for me, going away to college was a much more incredible blessing than I could have possibly imagined. Not only did I meet my wife at Franciscan University, but I made some of the best friendships I have ever made in my life with men and women whom I hope to share in the Joy of Heaven with one day.
As well, there is one "out of college" experience that I had during the Christmas Break of 1998 that I would gladly share with anyone. Thankfully, with the horrible memory I have, one of those good friends I just mentioned has just posted the story online: http://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=39275
There is so much more that happened on this journey, and it was taken, on my part, because I had completed my Consecration to Mary according to the Preparation and Consecratory prayer of St. Louis DeMontfort. I wanted to thank her for allowing me to go to Europe in the Spring of 1999 (the other side of that Christmas Break) to study in Franciscan's Gaming Campus in Austria. So many blessings came of this year. Really, too many to enumerate here. But I must say that the Feast of Our Lady of Guadlupe, 4 days after my birthday, and 3 days after my Confirmation Saint's, Juan diego, feast day, will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart.
So I recently turned 38... though for the last year I was pretty sure that I had already been 38 all year long... I guess this happens to some people when they get older. There are many things that people would like to forget in our lives, of course. But as a community of human beings, "the hive" as some might argue, we ought not to forget the reality of the history of things. As has oft been said, "To ignore history is to repeat it," which apparently I am now doing this year in my "second year" of being 38 years old.
Regardless of me, sadly even in our own modern day it appears some want to do away with the Old things and cover them over with the new, for example a French Chateau:
Nevertheless, the things of history hold riches that we can mine and savor (not literally, unless you are talking wine... or a Good Scotch... or good Irish cheddar cheese! But I digress...) But our souls can be greatly enhanced the more we understand the things of our ancestors. Those who have gone before us have gained wisdom, sometimes by choice, but often by accident.
Catholics, in particular, have much to understand and much to savor in the stories of the Great Saints of our Tradition. I am working with a young woman in order that she be Baptized and we were talking about "reparation for sin" tonight in the context of the Sacrament of Confession. It reminded me of the glorious and, at the same time, sad story of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on the hill of Montmarte in Paris, which I have had the great privilege and blessing to visit and to adore the Lord in. That is, while I was at Franciscan University I had the opportunity to study abroad at the Campus in Gaming, Austria. From there, a friend and I, who last name rhymes with "Doctor" (for those who would know him), were able to make a visit to Montmarte.
Though the Basilica was only begun in 1873, the foundations of it go much further back, as the Basilica's website explains:
The name signifies "mount of martyrs" because by tradition it is the place of the martyrdom of Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris (late 3rd century) and his companions. Many saints have come to this hill (Saint Germain - Saint Clotilde - Saint Bernard - Saint Joan of Arc - Saint Vincent de Paul, …) and, of course, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis-Xavier who, with their companions, founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) here in 1534.
A big benedictine Abbey occupied the whole hill until the French Revolution at which date the nuns were guillotined and the Abbey destroyed. A village called Saint Peter's survived in this former lime quarry in the late 19th century; the working people were short of employment.
There is much there, but notice that the original Benedictine Abbey was only destroyed at the French Revolution. The young lady I am working with mentioned she was contemporaneously studying the French Revolution and I asked her what she had learned of it. I asked this particularly since she attends Government-based education, which is decidedly more and more devoid of religion - and in particular the Christian Faith in History. She was not aware that the French Revolution was largely waged as a way to reject and attack the Catholic Church and her Faith in France.
So intense was the persecution of the Church that many religious (i.e. monks and nuns) and priests were killed merely for maintaining their Catholic Faith. While many went along with the Revolutionaries and subjected their Faith to the State, others understand that only by being faithful to Christ will mankind come to know the Only Living and True God. In Notre Dame Cathedral it is reported by eyewitnesses that the statue of the Virgin Mary was toppled and she was replaced with the so-called "Goddess of Reason" who was nothing more, by some accounts, than a prostitute spontaneously exalted by the people.
In fact, there were some people in the Northern Region of the Vendee that rose up to try to stem the destructive tide of Revolutionaries - many of whom were Freemasons that reportedly instigated and promoted much of the killing of the Catholic People of France. Unfortunately, these people were unsuccessful as the rejection of God had become far more deep than merely a political struggle. It was a spiritual virus. As Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power, now that the Kingdom of France had become an almost officially anti-Catholic Democracy, this assault on the Faith had found deep root among some people. To the point that, as many have reported, Napoleon would not allow himself to be crowned by the Pope, but took the crown and crowned himself. A very symbolic act of that time, denoting his authority equal or superior to the Vicar of Christ, Pius VII!
Some time after Napolean's coronation, some 66 years later,the Germans came to invade Rome. Again from the Basilica's website:
In 1870, war broke out between France and Germany. The Council taking place at the Vatican broke up and the Pope, no longer protected by French troops, felt himself to be a prisoner in the Vatican City. France faced military defeat and occupation of part of the country by German troops. The response of MM. Alexandre Legentil and Hubert Rohault de Fleury was spiritual. They vowed to build a church consecrated to the Heart of Christ in reparation (in penitence for sins commited) since for them, the misery of France stemmed more from spiritual than from political causes... The work was financed by gifts, often modest, from all over France.The names of the donors are carved in the stone.
So even to this day there is perpetual adoration in the Basilica of Sacre Ceour (or Sacred Heart, in English) specifically for the reparation of the sins of the people of France that lead to the French Revolution among other calamities. The lesson we should take from all of this is that the wisdom of repentance, which led so many of the early great Saints to the desert and other great ones throughout history to worship Christ, is that acts of reparation allow us to unite amongst ourselves before God, but also to plead the cause of others to receive the grace of repentance.
Last night, my beloved wife and I went to eat at a French Restaurant downtown where i had the dish pictured at the beginning of this post! Steak with Roquefort Cheese in a port reduction, with Pommes Frites (basically, "souped up french fries")!!! GLORIOUS!!
What I find so sad is that many today cannot understand a Catholic culture that gave us great French Food, but also gave us one of the greatest acts of reparation for the sins of the people of that very culture. Perhaps we Catholic Americans ought to consider things we too might do to make acts of reparation for our own country's sinfulness, if we hope to gain the wisdom passed on from our forebears.
I have not met Fr. Nepil, but he is here in the Archdiocese of Denver, and, please God, I will meet him one day in this life or the next. However, I hope that his story will help to realize that no one who lives is unloved by God:
I consider myself a reasonable man. Perhaps I am not, but I think I am. However, how can anyone even joke about this:
Could someone have been so malformed and "brainwashed" by the prevalent culture to think that this is true. Well, the video seems to proves it. Some in America actually believe that this man who is President, and only a man, has some sort of cultural drive to make us reconfigure our lives on behalf of this very man. Sadly, this "performer" has now proven that either: a) he is completely ignorant of history and the significance of Jesus Christ, or b) he is such a "paid monkey" (and I don't mean that in a racist sense, only in a financially determined by the organ grinder [i.e. the government] sense) that he is willing to call someone a vastly offensive title that truly undermines the Christian Faith of millions of Americans.
Recently, my wife and I watched the Movie "Saint Barbara: Convert and Martyr of the Early Church." This was a profoundly beautiful movie. It laid out the understood life story of St. Barbara who has been venerated for centuries. Though she was a convert, she was willing to die for what she believed, as many Catholic Christians were documented in Ancient Rome, simply because she would not offer a pinch of incense to an idol of the ruling "monarch" of the day, the Emperor Diocletian. Barbara sought to be an integral person who would not offer even a pinch of incense to a false idol that would cause her to collaborate, at least according to the movie, in the death of her friends that were Christians - even though she was a ROMAN both by birth and RELIGION! What we do know is that, according to Sacred Tradition, her father was the one who killed her for her denial to worship the Emperor of Rome and thus deny her new found Christian Faith.
According to some websites, like here, Mr. Foxx is considered a Christian - at least on the
"intertoobs." Though apparently others deny this, like here. Neither of those are the most reliable websites, but the point here is that some will be confused by this "word" of Mr. Foxx. Yet the Word of the only Living and True God resounds: "And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin * are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. (Lk 17:1-2).* Many who heard this blasphemy will think of it as nothing more than the cute ramblings of a "performer" who is "honoring" his friend/president. Yet this is precisely how tyrants are exalted; not by mere and unabashedly proud exaltation, but jokes and "inside jokes." History shows that even Augustus Caesar took power from the Senate of Rome by agreeing to have his adoptive Father, Julius Caesar, proclaimed a "God." Almost immediately afterwards he took control of the Empire, as "the Son of a God." I am sure most people thought, "yeah, great joke there Augustus." - as many will think of Mr. Foxx's comments.
Yet some will take this seriously, and given the state of government directed education in America where the Only Living and True God has been removed and forcibly and, according to the thought of Friedrich Nietzche, ever so subtly shown that "God is dead." Now men determine to find someone who can fill that role of "god" as mankind once did in the time of Rome. Given the cultural ruins of the "Family" and the vastly plundered meaning of "Fatherhood" in our modern American society, one can not but watch as some will accept the "seed" of this blasphemy and let it take root in their hearts and souls. Not that anyone will notice now, but in years to come when we Christians are more openly persecuted these moments like Mr. Foxx's proclamation will be the "fertilizer" from which that impetus will be born.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we live in perilous times. Let your hearts be established firmly in the Lord, so that Christ may be proclaimed in your life and that he might be proclaimed in mine. We who are granted the glorious title of "Christian" can not lose sight of the fact of our blessing in being given to share in the very Life of Christ by our Baptism and to share the teaching which has been handed on to us in our Holy Catholic Faith. Our Blessed Life depends on it, and more importantly the life of mankind depends on it too!
Its funny how politics skews so much. And yet, leave it to the soberness of Irish to make clear the choice that a goverment makes in defending or attacking life:
Wow, so it has been quite a while since I have last posted here. Not for lack of desire, but the last few months have been incredibly busy for me personally. As of less than a week ago I became a homeowner, and that has caused no small amount of preparation to make that happen. and now I continue at the projects of being a homeowner, while continuing to plan and implement classes for ND. Please stay tuned!
I grew up watching Bob Ross, and I think this is a great tribute to him:
On this his 70th birthday, may God rest his soul for the work he did in finding happy accidents.
By the way, I have been away for quite a while, but have not forgotten you. I am making a consorted effort to get back at this blog. Have a blessed day.
What more is to be said? We are a "passionately Catholic University." I am honored and blessed to be an alumnus of this gloriously faithful institution. May God bless them for placing service of God above comfort and unity. Some things are far more important and worth fighting for:
Working in Elementary Religious Education affords one the best of the religious cartoon ...and not so good. Luckily, it is hard to screw up the Story of St. Patrick, I don't know if it is because the Irish would uprise and destroy anyone who did, or people might notice the silliness of that between their green beer and "I'm not Irish, but kiss me anyway" shirts. Either way, I have taken to reading a book called "Celtic Spirituality" this Lent, which includes many of the writings of St. Patrick himself, more on that in a few days, but St. Paul said it is better to start with milk before meat, so here ya go... Unfortunately, our friends over at VeggieTales suffer from Catholic Amnesia, and fail to mention he went, not just to "church", but he went to Catholic Church. It is important that we not lose sight of the meaning of this holiday! More to come later this week!
Sandra Fluke apparently decided to forego the Lenten obligation of going to Confession for serious sins, recommended by the Catholic Church, in order to air her serious sins and instead to go to "Confession" at the Senate hearing:
Now there are so many ridiculous claims brought in this testimony before the U.S. Senate, nevermind that two Americans died in Afghanistan today. As I can not go into the political peculiarities of this testimony (due to the presumption of separation of Church and State the I.R.S. works under), I do think it is quite appropriate to speak of the theological and moral implications that she proposes as a student at a Catholic University, namely Georgetown (which I suppose is more specifically a "University in the Jesuit Tradition", whatever that means). Is this, perhaps, the problem of having the focus of some of American's Catholic Universities over-focusing on "pastoral care" for all faiths, instead of instructing and catechizing on the one True Catholic Faith by which we come to meet the only living and True God?
To take a look at the Georgetown University website one notices that "The ideals and principles that have characterized Jesuit education for over 450 years are central to Georgetown’s mission and character." And yet, is not one of the hallmarks of St. Ignatius' spirituality an unwavering devotion to the Pope, and our need to "sentire cum ecclesiae"? Yet, Ms. Fluke, who has presented her sinfulness for the world to see has now demonstrated the Secular Humanistic philosophy, which is underlying her worldview and approach to contraception.
Rush Limbaugh, conservative political commentator, attacked her illogical approach to her position, and,had some very harsh words:
“What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex, what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? We’re the pimps.”
Regardless of this conclusion, what is not understood by this "reproductive rights activist" is that she is promoting her so-called "rights" against those whose right to life are being taken away. The Church herself points out in the Catechism #2273 that every child has the right to:
The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:
"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death." "The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights.
" While Ms. Fluke herself notes that non-contraceptive uses of hormones (hormones which incidentally have demonstrably significant carcinogenic effects on women) to regulate her friend's poly-cystic ovarian syndrome. This may, in fact, be a medical need! Yet, Ms. Fluke seems to be equating her wanton desire for pre-marital sexual activity with her friend's medical need.
Then she goes on to say that she expected this Catholic School would live up to its Jesuit creed of "Cura Personalis." This completely neglects that fact that the Catholic Faith demonstrably has not changed its position on contraception SINCE THE 1st CENTURY!!! The "whole person" includes the state of one's soul in mortal sin, which theoretically is still taught at Georgetown, as well! What is unfortuante is that she thinks that this is being asked of her "because she is a woman?" What she misunderstands is that at a Catholic University the moral truths established by the only Living and True God ought to be upheld and promoted, regardless of gender or sexual orientation or race. Her explicit perspective is that she wanted a "prestigious school" but yet she did not consider that her integrity has already been compromised by not accepting and respecting the fact that she had entered a Catholic University where a certain belief and practice is, at least theoretically, promoted and upheld. Sure anyone can attend a Private Catholic University, but they should not presume that their opposing beliefs will be cherished and accomodated. And yet, could this be what the state of many Catholic Universities have become, mere "prestigious universities?"
If one checks the Georgetown University's website then we find a very interesting note on their "Catholic and Jesuit Identity" page. They are clear that: "Today, Georgetown celebrates this long tradition by providing pastoral care and opportunities for worship, reflection and service to members of the community across a diversity of faiths. On any given week, more than 50 different religious services are taking place across our campuses, including Catholic Masses, Muslim prayer services, Orthodox Christian services, Jewish Shabbat services, and Protestant services and Bible studies." Sadly, this is under the subheading of "commitment to faith." Now, I agree "faith", as such, should be respected that man may seek God, but should not a Catholic University be true to its own identity and mission, and not promote and equate the viability and veracity of other religious traditions in union with their own? Is this not scandal against the very prayer of Jesus to God the Father, "Holy Father, keep them in your name ...that they may be one, even as you and I are one (Jn 17:11)."
Ms. Fluke, in fact, demonstrates the danger of syncretism that would equate all faiths as equal, precisely because human beings believe in them. And thus every human belief and practice are precisely equal. Her sexual activity is not the same or even close to being as central to the worship of Christ on a Catholic University Campus, or, at least, shouldn't be. Yet, by the continuing accomodation of teachings inconsistent with the Catholic Faith, this woman expects that she should have her contraceptives paid for, as well as all women's birth control.
In my humble opinion, this is yet another demonstration of the world's maxim: Misery loves company. The miserable state of human sin can not allow others to call them to something greater, to call them to find Truth and the only Living and True God! In Christ's Mercy, they see nothing but restrcition and regulation and neglect the Living God who calls to them to be healed of our fallen flesh, which often desires sin merely for slefish pleasure's sake - whether by sexual acts or otherwise. We Catholics can not sit back and let such things pass by us as just yet another piece of news! Our Faith is under attack and it is these small steps, as Ms. Fluke does, of appealing to the "empowerment of man" to commit sins and to do so without any responsibility or guilt that our ability to practice our Catholic Faith is slowly being eroded. If Jesus has been resurrected, then we have not believe in vain and our lives must learn all that the Apostles taught - including the virtue of chastity.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
It is Lent, and I thought perhaps I should take to my blog, as I continue to find the beauty of life as it unfolds before us. I always loved still-frame picture montages, as I think they help us to focus on the slow and patient progression for nature as it reveals its beauty. Perhaps, we might consider that God's grace is like the sunlight on the flowers... it takes time to find the beauty that will burst forth and we don't often notice it until it explodes into our lives. Like the flowers, God never forgets our lives and is always silently providing his grace so that we might burst forth into the flowering of love in our lives. Enjoy the grace today!
It has not been my desire to neglect this blog, but with the Biblical School position that I have been hired for and my work at the parish have been in their most busiest times, these last few months, then I have not been able to find the time for this blog. Nevertheless, since I add it to all of my emails in my signature, I thought it best to make the effort in the midst of this current crisis against contraception. Who better to go to than one of my media heroes, Michael Voris over at RealCatholicTv.com, please consider this:
