Journey to Scetis

Glimer of hope in France ...

2005-06-11T14:57:00.000-07:00

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

2005-06-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

1. Admonish sinners

Is this Christians who are sinning, or the unconverted?

2. Instruct the uninformed.

Become a catechist?

3. Counsel the doubtful.

Hmmm. What does this mean? How would we run into the doubtful if we really wanted to fulfill this work, or are we meant to fulfill it only serendipitously when we run into someone who says "I am doubtful, counsel me"?

4. Comfort the sorrowful.

Okay

5. Be patient with those in error.

Okay ... I suppose.

6. Forgive offenses.

Okay

7. Pray for the living and the dead.

The "easy" one ... lol

With Apologies to Blake

2005-06-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

On a recent thread at Disputations,
a commenter was going on and on about the problems that he had as a Protestant with a system (Catholicism) that would propagate a doctrine like the Perpetual Virginity of Mary.

I'm sure that William Blake is rolling over in his grave as I use this poem in defense of Catholicism, but it just seemed so appropriate:

Mock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau:
Mock on, mock on: ‘tis all in vain!
You throw the sand against the wind,
And the wind blows it back again.

And every sand becomes a Gem,
Reflected in the beam divine;
Blown back they blind the mocking Eye,
But still in Israel’s paths they shine.

The Atoms of Democritus
And the Newton’s Particles of Light
Are sands upon the Red Sea shore,
Where Israel’s tents do shine so bright.

Blake is of course referring to atheists protesting any form of Christianity, and Blake is of course totally idiosyncratic in the way that he defines everything, and would probably have to be condemned as a heretic if he were not in fact nuts.

Still, I think to the extent that Protestants raise "rationalist" objections to divine truth, I think Blake's reproach applies.

Fasting Tips

2005-06-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

here

(Courtesy of Atgnatus)

Salt of the Earth

2005-05-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

Anyone wanting to read up on Pope Benedict's thinking would be better of with Salt of the Earth than with The Ratzinger Report, in my opinion.

Salt of the Earth hits a lot of points of great interest these days, whereas the other book lays out Pope Benedict's basic thinking, which you can get pretty much from reading the news.

Short snippet from Salt of the Earth:

Metz, if I recall correctly, asks why we [Catholics] ought to make ourselves a clone of Protestant Christianity. It is actually a good thing, he says, that the experiment [women's ordination, contraception, celibacy of priesthood -- liberal Protestantism, in other words]. For it shows that being Christian today does not stand or fall on these questions. That the resolution of these matters doesn't make the gospel more aattractive of being Christian any easier. It does not even achieve the agreement that will better hold the Church together ... [so] the Church is not suffering on account of these questions.

Saint Paul Hanh

2005-05-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

Saint of the day.

A Vietnamese martyr. A convert to Catholicism, Paul later fell away from the faith and became a member of an outlaw band. Captured by the government, he proclaimed his faith and was thus singled out for especially cruel treatment. After enduring tortures, he was beheaded near Saigon.

Martyrs of Vietnam

Good News from Mongolia

2005-05-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

Korean Catholics are helping to spread the Gospel in Mongolia

And, thanks in part to the efforts of the Verbist Care Center (affiliated with Missionhurst, see right), the problem of Mongolian children living in sewers is getting under control.

Rewriting History in Tunisia

2005-05-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has an article about attempts by the Tunisians to deny that residents of Carthage practiced infant sacrifice.

Not only is infant sacrifice mentioned over and over in the history record, but there is a large amount of archaeological evidence to confirm it.

Nevertheless, the Tunisian government is instructing tour guides to tell foreigners "it never happened."

There's a "historian" pushing this in Tunisia. I can understand him saying "let's talk about the vices of the Greeks and Romans for a minute," but I can't understand how a historian would lie in the "national interest."

Although it's done all the time, of course. It seems like the greatest danger of a "one world government" is that a whitewash would actually work for all time.

Hankering After Something New

2005-05-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Disputations discusses the fascination with the new here and here.

I think this relates to many admonitions in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, primarily the ones along the lines of "whatever you do, stay in your cell." It seems like neophilia in the days of Scetis would typically manifest itself with monks wanting to get up and move to different sketes.

I remember one vignette off-hand. The Abba says "water the palm trees." The disciple says "but we are not at our skete. We are in [X], Abba." The Abba says "What am I doing in [X]? Let us return to our skete at once."

Book Review: The Ratzinger Report

2005-05-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

There's nothing wrong with this book, and I think it would have been very useful to get a handle on the thinking of Cardinal Ratzinger before he became Pope. The book was published in 1985, after all.

However, I think there is not so much to gain from reading today, when Pope Benedict's thinking has been widely laid out everywhere.

I think if a reader had just come back from a wilderness expedition and wanted to get up to speed fast, this book would be valuable. Otherwise, no.

The only thing that really stuck out for (okay, I read it fast) was Ratzinger's sympathy for the "anti-nuns" (my word, not his. Short hand for habit-less, activist, feminist types), whom he viewed as victims of a society that had de-emphasized the differences between men and women to the point where the anti-nuns had become tragically misguided about their vocations. He did seem to have a great deal of compassion for the anti-nuns, as well as (I suppose) the "anti-priests", which is perhaps why heads are rolling a lot slower than less compassionate people might have hoped for upon his election.

hmmmm ...

2005-05-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

you are olivedrab
#688E23

Your dominant hues are green and yellow. There's no doubt about the fact that you think with your head, but you don't want to be seen as boring and want people to know about your adventurous streak now and again.

Your saturation level is higher than average - You know what you want, but sometimes know not to tell everyone. You value accomplishments and know you can get the job done, so don't be afraid to run out and make things happen.

Your outlook on life can be bright or dark, depending on the situation. You are flexible and see things objectively.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

(hat tip Caritate Dei)

On Anaesthesia

2005-05-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had two wisdom teeth extracted. I was given the choice of general or local anaesthesia and chose local.

Boy, was that unpleasant. Most people have two roots per wisdom tooth, but I am one of the lucky few that has three. In addition, my gum tissue is so tough it bent the standard gauge needle used for injecting novocaine.

At any rate, after twenty minutes the two teeth were out and I was biting down on a gauze bandage to stop the bleeding. I went home and spent the next day and a half on codeine.

So, it was unpleasant ... but the novocaine and codeine prevented me from having the sort of experience most people in history have had when they needed a tooth extracted. I can only imagine what the whole process would have felt like with no pain medication other than, perhaps, a couple of slugs of whiskey.

Last week I read Romano Guardini's The End of the Modern World. In it he posits that modern man came to an end with World War II, and that the man of the future will be "mass man." A lot of what he says was prophetic for the time the book was written (1950s), but old hat to us today because it has all come true.

But he discusses at some length how "mass man" will be a "non-human human" and part of that non-humanness comes from being cut off from the classic human experience, such as pain.

Other examples--abortion/euthanasia, of course. But also insurance and savings accounts. Providing financially to cover every "suboptimal outcome" that could happen to us gives us mass men a sort of illusion of control over things that are really out of our hands.

For instance, if I have good insurance and plenty of savings and I die, well then my wife and kids are well provided for. On the other hand, I am still dead. To what extent does "I've got everything covered" leave out the spiritual aspect?

I am thinking about this because I work in industries that pay well but have considerable uncertainty looking to the future. Perhaps I am employable in five years, perhaps not. To what extent does socking yet more money way take me away from being a "lily of the field" as it were?

One obviously has obligations to provide for one's family, but at what point does this just become an excuse?

No surprise here, I suppose

2005-05-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

These are my quiz results ...

You are Pope St. Pius X. You'd rather be right than
newfangled.

Which Twentieth Century Pope Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Gregorian Chant 24/7

2005-05-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

on internet Radio.

(hat tip Recta Ratio)

Power

2005-05-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

"... the development of power has created the impression that power objectifies itself; that is, power cannot really be possessed ... it unfolds independently from the continuous logic of scientific investigations ... The conviction grows that power simply demands its own actualization.

Yes, this does mean that power has become demonic."

Romano Guardini, The End of the Modern World

The End of the Modern World

2005-05-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

The question is not whether the glass is half full or half empty, but what do you do when you know it's empty.

Richard John Neuhaus, in his Foreword to Romano Guardini's
The End of the Modern World

Real Traditionalists (funny)

2005-05-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

"Real Traditionalists" at The Society of St. Pius I

(hat tip Domenico Bettinelli)

Jubilate Agno

2005-05-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt from a poem by Christopher Smart, a Protestant who was in and out of insane asylums during his adult life. What is magnificent about it, other than its sheer magnificence in and of itself, is that it was written during a particularly dismal time in English poetry, when Alexander Pope ruled the roost and having precise meter was more important than having anything to say.

1For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
2For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him.
3For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
4For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
5For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer.
6For he rolls upon prank to work it in.
7For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.
8For this he performs in ten degrees.
9For first he looks upon his forepaws to see if they are clean.
10For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.
11For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the forepaws extended.
12For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.
13For fifthly he washes himself.
14For sixthly he rolls upon wash.
15For seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat.
16For eighthly he rubs himself against a post.
17For ninthly he looks up for his instructions.
18For tenthly he goes in quest of food.
19For having consider'd God and himself he will consider his neighbour.
20For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness.
21For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance.
22For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.
23For when his day's work is done his business more properly begins.
24For he keeps the Lord's watch in the night against the adversary.
25For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.
26For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.
27For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.
28For he is of the tribe of Tiger.
29For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
30For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness he suppresses.
31For he will not do destruction, if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation.
32For he purrs in thankfulness, when God tells him he's a good Cat.
33For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon.
34For every house is incomplete without him and a blessing is lacking in the spirit.
35For the Lord commanded Moses concerning the cats at the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt.
36For every family had one cat at least in the bag.
37For the English Cats are the best in Europe.
38For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped.
39For the dexterity of his defence is an instance of the love of God to him exceedingly.
40For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.
41For he is tenacious of his point.
42For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.
43For he knows that God is his Saviour.
44For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
45For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.
46For he is of the Lord's poor and so indeed is he called by benevolence perpetually--Poor Jeoffry! poor Jeoffry! the rat has bit thy throat.
47For I bless the name of the Lord Jesus that Jeoffry is better.
48For the divine spirit comes about his body to sustain it in complete cat.
49For his tongue is exceeding pure so that it has in purity what it wants in music.
50For he is docile and can learn certain things.
51For he can set up with gravity which is patience upon approbation.
52For he can fetch and carry, which is patience in employment.
53For he can jump over a stick which is patience upon proof positive.
54For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command.
55For he can jump from an eminence into his master's bosom.
56For he can catch the cork and toss it again.
57For he is hated by the hypocrite and miser.
58For the former is afraid of detection.
59For the latter refuses the charge.
60For he camels his back to bear the first notion of business.
61For he is good to think on, if a man would express himself neatly.
62For he made a great figure in Egypt for his signal services.
63For he killed the Ichneumon-rat very pernicious by land.
64For his ears are so acute that they sting again.
65For from this proceeds the passing quickness of his attention.
66For by stroking of him I have found out electricity.
67For I perceived God's light about him both wax and fire.
68For the Electrical fire is the spiritual substance, which God sends from heaven to sustain the bodies both of man and beast.
69For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
70For, tho he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.
71For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadruped.
72For he can tread to all the measures upon the music.
73For he can swim for life.
74For he can creep.

Ooh! My Favorite Books!

2005-05-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

Hey! I was lucky enough to get tagged by Andrew at The Angry Twins for a meme game. I'll play ...

Total Number of Books I've Owned

In excess of 1000. I've given hundreds away over the years.

Last Book I Bought:

The Resurrection of the Son of God

Last Book I Read:

The Way of A Pilgrim. I just read this book, really liked it, and will reread it soon. It may become a top 5 book for me down the road.

Five Books that mean a lot to me:

Sayings of the Desert Fathers This book is second only to the Bible, IMO. Tons of deep spiritual truth compressed into space that you can read in a few hours (though you will want to read it again and again).

Ivanhoe In terms of slam-bang action, the greatest novel ever written! And the hero is a Catholic (as are the villains, alas).

Hyperspace Introduction to string theory for the layman. Give it to an atheist materialist and ask them how they can still be an atheist materialist after reading it.

Wise Blood. Short, Sick, Violent, Funny, Profoundly Catholic.

Notes from the Underground. Short, Sick, Violent, Funny, Profoundly Russian Orthodox.

tag 5 people and have them do this on their blog

Oblate-Man, Anastasia, Lana Rosen, G. Thomas Fitzpatrick, Atgnatus

RIFSP, Version 0.3

2005-05-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

First Year of the RIFSP

1. Pray Rosary daily and Jesus Prayer when commuting.

2. 1/2 hour of lectio divina (in my case in Latin)

3. Almsgiving (10% tithe minimum)

4. Fast (2 small meals daily except Sundays and Solemnities) and abstain (no meat on Fridays or during Lent)

5. love others, consider them better than yourself, and judge no one. Also, keep the "Melchizadek Rule", avoiding debates/controversies that do not concern you.

This revision eliminates the Morning/Evening Prayer requirement for Xofezura, replacing it with the Rosary requirement. It also eliminates the Daily Mass requirement, which Xofezura can't even dream of satisfying at this point in his life.

Under Version 0.2 of the Rule, Xofezura went down in flames in only 3 weeks, failing on points #1, #2, #4, and #5. #3 is really part of the Rule only so Xofezura cannot totally fail ... it's a "gimme."

I'm ready now to try again and battle on points #4 and #5, but #1 and #2 as originally written were hopeless for me. There's something (for me) actually depressing about doing communal Morning/Evening Prayer outside of community. I was getting to where I dreaded it. I felt like the Last of the Mohicans or something.

Since the Rosary is a private devotion, it seems like a good switch.

Specialist or Generalist

2005-05-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

Given a finite amount of energy and willpower, is it better to work on the things you are best at spiritually or worst at?

Don't answer: "do both" even though I'm sure that's the right answer.

I guess I work so hard to bring my many F grades up to D-'s. Sometimes if I shouldn't just work on pushing that solitary B up to an A-. It would have to be easier, it would certainly be more enjoyable, and I wonder if it wouldn't be more spiritually profitable.

More on Purgatory

2005-05-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Jesus

Jesus Christ declares (Matthew 12:32): "And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come." (Implying that some sins are forgiven in the world to come)

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechet. Mystog., V, 9, P.G., XXXIII, col. 1116) describing the liturgy, writes: "Then we pray for the Holy Fathers and Bishops that are dead; and in short for all those who have departed this life in our communion; believing that the souls of those for whom prayers are offered receive very great relief, while this holy and tremendous victim lies upon the altar."

St. Gregory of Nyssa

St. Gregory of Nyssa (P. G., XLVI, col. 524, 525) states that man's weaknesses are purged in this life by prayer and wisdom, or are expiated in the next by a cleansing fire. "When he has quitted his body and the difference between virtue and vice is known he cannot approach God till the purging fire shall have cleansed the stains with which his soul was infested. That same fire in others will cancel the corruption of matter, and the propensity to evil."

St. Paul

A further argument is supplied by St. Paul in I Cor., iii, 11-1,5: "For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus. Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay stubble: Every man's work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work burn, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire."

Second Maccabees

"It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins" (II Mach., xii, 43-46).

(Quotes lifted from New Advent article on purgatory)

Purgatory

2005-05-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

I've heard Purgatory dismissed as something Catholics "just made up" so I thought I'd look into the issue. This is a violation of the Melchizadek Rule of course, but I held out for a few days. I will investigate this matter then go back on the MR.

To investigate I picked up a book called "The Resurrection of the Son of God" by a historian who looks into ancient Jewish and Greek thinking about the afterlife.

It's interesting (to me anyway). I'm only partway into the book, but it would appear that Purgatory would be eminently defendable from the Old Testament alone.

For example:

1. David in the Psalms is quite certain that when he dies he will go to Sheol.

2. The author of Ecclesiastes says that a ticket to Sheol is our lot in life, so we better get used to it and enjoy the sun while it shines.

3. Job argues that all the damage done to his life has to be repaired NOW because when he gets to Sheol and becomes a mere shadow, it will be too late.

So, is Sheol hell? When I was brought up Protestant, I was taught that "Sheol was just another word for hell". THAT seems like a gross oversimplification. Sheol doesn't even seem like a place where you get punished ... it's just a place where you barely exist.

I was also taught that when Jesus died, he went and preached in hell/Sheol for three days, and folks like Moses, David, then got their chance to leave hell and go to heaven.

Well, isn't hell a place of ETERNAL punishment (aka damnation?). If David went to hell for a couple thousand years ... doesn't that start to sound like purgatory? If not, why not?

I realize that Jesus said to the thief "this day you will be with me in paradise", but Elijah also rode a fiery chariot to heaven. There's treatment for special cases, and then there's treatment for the general case.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, I'm only 100 pages into a 700 page book so I'm horribly ignorant on this subject. All I can say is anyone who thinks Jewish and/or Greek thinking on the afterlife was consistent and unchanging from the time of Adam till the time of Jesus should read the book.

A Canadian Thinks About Moving to

2005-05-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

Malta!

Malta, despite the negatives associated with joining the E.U. does seem to be the exile location of choice.

Check out the 360 degrees views of the tourist attractions, including any number of fortresses and Catholic churches at Visit Malta

Rosary Thoughts

2005-05-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

I tried doing the Rosary last night (Sorrowful Mysteries).

I don't now how other people think, but my interior monologue runs every minute I'm awake and gets divided into 3 or 4 threads. So work thoughts, part-time business thoughts, thoughts about the family, and a free-floating "topic of the week" set of thoughts all compete for space. Absolutely maddening, especially when sitting in traffic.

Anyway, the problem with "pray by talking to Jesus as a friend" for me is that only one thread gets occupied--and it is mostly full of blather on my side. Thus it's like having a conversation in a noisy restaurant.

So ... my Rosary experience. One thread was fully occupied by the recitation of the prayers, another by visualizing the mysteries, another by "this kneeling is making my legs tired!" ... leaving only one thread to wander, get distracted, etc.

So, it worked. This time. Some old-time Catholics report that saying the Rosary becomes one hundred percent mechanical over time. In my case, time will tell I suppose.