The Vice of Anger

Out of pride and envy arise the bitterness of anger. The vice of anger is a disposition of unjust wrath toward God, neighbor, or the good. There is righteous anger, which inspires one to stand against evil. Jesus displayed this when he flipped the tables in the temple to halt sin (Matthew 21:12-13). Anger is justified to this end. Anger becomes a vice when it's directed twoard God or neighbor personally. Remember, we are called to love the sinner - hate the sin. Unjust anger makes one short-tempered, short-sighted, ill-willed, and unforgiving. Whether held in thought, expressed in action, held in brief, or for years on end - its weight is crippling to the soul- often leading to hatred of the people who created the anger, and, eventually, hatred of God who creates the people. Counter anger with the virtues of meekness, forbearance, forgiveness, and prayerfulness. Meekness and forbearance allow you to bear a frustrating situation with a heart of mercy - to take a deep breath when the fire of anger flares up inside and temper it gracefully. This prevents anger from winning over the heat of the moment. Forgiveness prevents it from winning over the whole of your life. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you" (Lewis B. Smedes). Pray for those who hurt you. The waves of anger are broken on the rocks of prayer -- bringing peace to your soul. (horseandchariot.com)

Guardians of the Night

Guardian Angel: Angels bless and angels keep Angels guard me while I sleep Bless my heart and bless my home Bless my spirit as I roam Guide and guard me through the night and wake me with the morning's light. Amen

We are NOT.....

Christian Burial vs Human Composting

The human body is not a piece of trash. It is the essential mode of our existence – we are embodied souls. The soul has no life, self-understanding, or experiences apart from the body. A person is more than his body, but cannot live or be conceived of without his body. Here lies a duality of thought in this modern era - spend all your energy, care, and resources to keep your body fit and beautiful, but after the body dies -- throw it away like a piece of trash! Does this really make any sense? Is this really what God wants? Why did our ancestors spend so much care with the remains of the dead loved ones? Why did they lay them so tenderly in their caskets and then into the earth? Why make monuments to preserve their names? Now modern thought tries to couch this idea of throwing away your body in terms of giving your body, now decaying and of no use to the soul, back to 'Mother' earth by allowing it to be composted. The state of New York and five other states have joined in this radical idea. I recently read a post in The Catholic Thing, written by David G. Bonagura, Human Composting is Repulsive. It is worth reading the article. Everyone points out that this is a post Christian era, a post Christian country where we no longer embrace the principles of our forefathers and so they go out seeking a "New" thing - give back to the earth; allow your body to be composted - like last night's leftover dinner. Here is what the journalist, David Bonagura writes: Arguments for human composting, as recently articulated by the New York Times, are utilitarian, emotional, and philosophical. It costs less than traditional burial, and, though more expensive than cremation, composting’s version of bone-burning does far less damage to the environment. It satisfies an emotional connection to the earth that includes a desire both to give back to it and to commune with deceased loved ones now enmeshed in it. And it represents a new form of death ritual that has meaning for some, so, in the spirit of moral relativism, we ought to respect each person’s choice. Sounds so logical, right? Advocacy for human composting stems from a philosophical dualism that posits a radical separation between soul and body. In this view, the body is accidental, not essential, to human existence... The body can be treated as a mere instrument of one's own volition or it can be thrown away after death since its connection to the person had no real value in the first place. Human composting erodes human dignity. I have a compost heap in my backyard. It’s where my family and I throw our organic trash: banana peels, tea bags, coffee grinds, eggshells, inedible fruit and vegetable waste, rotted pumpkins after Halloween. Even outside of Christian circles, civilized people believe each person has an inherent dignity that no one may violate. Because of the essential union of soul and body, respecting the dignity of the person necessarily requires respect for the human body. We cannot, for example, do violence to a person physically and claim that we are somehow respecting his soul at the same time. So, we rightly oppose racism and sexism, for the attacks these prejudices wage on account of a body’s appearance attack the person. In exploiting the body, these prejudices dehumanize. By withering the human body into formless dirt, human composting is another form of dehumanization. If bodies are worthy of respect in life, they are also worthy of it in death. This is why for millennia so many cultures of varying religious faiths have practiced burying their dead: doing so is an act of homage to the person who was once someone’s son, daughter, brother, sister, spouse, parent, friend, neighbor – and should still be honored as such even in death. Despite appearances, composting a human body is not accelerating a natural process. Yes, bodies decay over time; but, as if nature itself were teaching a lesson on human dignity, bones do not decay. They remain together, fixed in the ground as the markers of a singular, intact being, a reminder of the person who once lived. We consider cemeteries hallowed grounds because they house something special. We allow the dead to rest in peace as a testament to the fact that these were persons who deserved respect when living, and still deserve respect in death. Of course, from a Christian perspective, the argument for preserving the body in death is still more profound. With Christmas we celebrate God becoming man, an event that imbued human flesh with divine nobility. The human body is so blessed by God and so essential to human existence that death brings only a temporary separation of soul and body. At the end of time, God will raise our decayed bodies from the earth and transform them into spiritual bodies – just like Christ’s own – with which our souls will reunite. We state this belief each Sunday in the Nicene Creed: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” (David Bonagura)

Christ the King

From Fr. Z's blog: Act of Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Most Sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before Thine altar. We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be; but to be more surely united to Thee, behold each one of us freely consecrates ourselves today to Thy Most Sacred Heart. Many indeed have never known Thee; Many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy Sacred Heart. Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful children, who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children, who have abandoned Thee; Grant that they may quickly return to their Father’s house lest they die of wretchedness and hunger. Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that there may be but one flock and one Shepherd. Be Thou King of all those who are still involved in the darkness of idolatry or of Islamism, and refuse not to draw them into the light and kingdom of God. Turn Thine eyes of mercy towards the children of the race, once Thy chosen people: of old they called down upon themselves the Blood of the Savior; may it now descend upon them a laver of redemption and of life. Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry; praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation; To it be glory and honor forever.

The Mysterious Sacrament

As a convert to the Catholic faith, I could not understand the Sacrament of Reconcilation (the Confessional). I had always just asked Jesus directly to forgive me of my sins and felt that was enough. It wasn't until I had read many articles and books and listened to the reasons for this sacrament that I finally was convinced that I needed to go. It wasn't easy. I didn't want to do it and felt extreme dread every time I sat in front of the priest to give an account of my actions that were considered sins by God. Finally, after much prayer and more reading, I realized that what God wanted from me was "Humility". It is pleasing to God for us to come to His representatives on earth, the Priests, and open up our hearts and minds and acknowledge that we have sinned - in all humility. Anyway...I read this article today, Bring Back the Box, by Jerome German about this very topic and felt that the article was so well written that I want to share it with others and save it. Here it is: The year was 1961. The confessional was dark, as it should be. A recalcitrant fifth-grade sinner, I had just poured my soul out to a family friend, the parish pastor. As he finished absolving me for what I was sure were the worst sins ever, he added, “Tell your mother that…” I can’t recall the rest of the message; I only remember my deep mortification. The whole purpose of the box was anonymity. How was this okay? It was perhaps borderline prideful on my part to think my sins that exceptional. And, as a frequent Mass server, he probably just recognized my voice. Still, I felt violated. What was routine for him was a very big deal for me. And still, I was compelled to seek the sacrament. In the end, it always seemed a journey from shadow to light. I was a repeat offender. My sins were monotonous, petty, and yet they oppressed me. Absolution was the light at the end of the tunnel. The confessional was repulsive yet enticing. A few short years later, face-to-face Confession was to become the norm—one might say, the preferred mode. I can’t help but wonder how many souls have been discouraged in the process. Confession is easily the most intimate spiritual thing imaginable. Is confidentiality really enough? Clearly, the creators of the box did not think so. Wouldn’t anonymity help the cause of confidentiality? How is it that in the age of psychology we have forgotten so much psychology? Surely, there are those among us who prefer a face-to-face encounter. Good for us. But personality differences alone will tell us that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to something so intimate. To be certain, the Saturday morning lineup for the confessional is not what it was a generation ago. I seriously doubt that the reason is that the current generation is less sinful; it is much more likely that fewer of us actually believe that sin is a thing. When face-to-face confessing was introduced, there was an effort to make sure that maintaining anonymity was still an option. But now that seems to be less and less the case. I say, bring back the box. The face-to-face experiment has been a noble effort to make the Faith more engaging, more personable—no scary black box. It hasn’t worked. The black box is not scary, except maybe to second graders, but I didn’t find it so. The lack of anonymity is plenty scary for many. My non-Catholic readers may, of course, find no necessity, no utility whatsoever in this discussion because they have embraced a direct avenue to forgiveness. Of course, we Catholics understand that it is God who forgives in the confessional just as surely as He forgives us when we go to Him directly. That being said, Christ’s command to the apostles concerning sin—“Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain they are retained”—is entirely devoid of context without confession, unless we are attributing to all of the apostles the ability to read souls, something that neither Scripture nor Tradition has ever claimed. And if the Church assigns no necessity to the process of confessing, then Christ was wasting words. The Word doesn’t waste words. It is one thing to confess your sins to God, it is another to receive counseling and an objective perspective of the weaknesses in your life in Christ, a perspective that serves to assist a soul in embracing another of Christ’s commands: “Go and sin no more.” Though the Sacrament of Reconciliation is probably the least popular of the seven sacraments, there is nonetheless a human obsession with confession. It requires humility, something perennially in short supply, and yet there is something in the human psyche, some craving, some absolute need to unload, as witnessed by police officers who record statements from the accused that go something like this: “Why am I telling you this? I don’t know. I just had to tell somebody—anybody!” Face-to-face confession began at the local precinct. If you’ve offended your spouse, God will forgive your sin; but that forgiveness will not heal the relationship with your spouse. Similarly, a need to confess to another human being, one of the many we offend nearly every day, is a dimension of spiritual healing that cannot be ignored. Our sins offend both God and humanity; the priest is there as the representative of both. What’s that? You don’t offend people? Immaculately conceived, eh? God knows us and our nature much better than any of us ever will, and that’s why he instituted this terrifyingly wonderful sacrament. When the non-Catholic sects abandoned the sacrament, it left a void, a wound that has only deepened with fewer and fewer Catholics availing themselves of the graces of the sacrament. Substitutes have been sought, but such are largely an exercise in self-deception: most often, absolution by blame. I’m talking, of course, about clinical psychology. Now, I fully recognize the potential good of that soft science, but the couch, as a replacement for the confessional, is often devoid of ample consideration of two irreplaceable elements: personal culpability and divine forgiveness. The blame game unleashes a spiritual and emotional tempest. If one is driven, by hatred of one’s own guilt, to confess sins, an obvious alternate approach is to hate the things or persons on which that guilt can be blamed: one’s virtual scapegoat—one’s sin offering. Father, mother, spouse, friend, sibling, teacher, supervisor, boss, lover—the scapegoats are legion. And that’s only the human ones. There’s another interesting blame vehicle; that is, a set of scapegoats that are not hated; they are embraced because they are ownable—ownable without guilt. They are one’s own genetics and life circumstances. Oh, and did I mention genetics? We instinctively know that we are different from the animals, and yet, as a race, we continue to think that we can play both sides of the court; that is, to be nothing more than animals when it’s convenient and to be the ordained custodians of the planet when it serves our purposes. That is to say that, on a personal level, people will dismiss their humanity to placate their guilt. We know instinctively that animals do not sin; they simply follow their nature, a nature easily coveted by some of us in an effort to alleviate a guilty conscience. It is a delusion that becomes a get-out-of-jail-free card. We think, “Yes, I did that; but my behavior is only the result of my genetics and environment.” Mysteriously, the same people who claim such are often the ones who play the opposite side of the court when they claim that humans are destroying the planet and the human population needs to be reduced. Does not such moralizing differentiate us from the animals? What animal moralizes? Or are we an invasive species? The amelioration of guilt wrought by such delusional mind games is, by its very nature, insufficient. Sinners still have a need to talk about their sins to someone. Self-justification never sufficiently quells the conscience, a reality that is brilliantly explored in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. To explore this subject further, I defer to Fulton J. Sheen. In a talk titled “Sin is in the Blood,” the good Archbishop starts by saying that, We are living in about the only period in the world’s history that there is a universal denial of guilt. This was foretold by Dostoevsky who wrote; “The time is coming where men will say that there is no sin, there is no guilt, only hunger. And they will come crying and fawning to our feet saying, “Give us bread.” It used to be that we Catholics were the only ones who believed in the Immaculate Conception. Now everybody believes that he is immaculately conceived. And concerning Macbeth, he goes on to say: …we have many complexes that are produced by sin without ever tracing the true cause, which is guilt. Take for example Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Shakespeare was born in 1554 as I recall, and died in 1616, long before there was any such thing as psychiatry; and yet in this tragedy Macbeth has a psychosis and Lady Macbeth has a neurosis. Both of them contrived to murder the King in order to seize the throne. Macbeth thinks that he sees the dagger before him, the instrument of murder, with the handle toward his hand. Lady Macbeth had the neurosis; she thought that she saw blood on her hands, spots. As anyone who has read or seen this brilliant play knows, Macbeth—though a seemingly moral character at the beginning of the play—once he has committed his first murder to gain power, rather than seeking divine forgiveness, launches a personal crusade of guilt abatement, each more horrifyingly murderous act intended to quell the psychosis produced by the former. In short, at every turn more tormented, he becomes a despicable tyrant. Who are the ones among us with heavily placated guilt? Observe them well, and watch them carefully, for they are tyrants in waiting. What they are already doing is tyrannical, but perhaps not in a way that directly effects our daily lives. That will change. Quiet tyranny never remains quiet. This is because guilt, if not forgiven from above, festers and festers until society drowns in its putrid puss. And what are these quiet tyrannies? They are mortal sins of lust and greed against the next generation, nature, neighbor, and God: pornography, fornication, adultery, contraception, abortion, infanticide, divorce, sodomy, pederasty, euthanasia, assisted suicide. They are sins against parent and progeny, nature and the supernatural, natural law and sacred tradition. The guilt load of our current culture is staggering, beyond the comprehension of the dulled minds of the guilty. In the short term, it will not end well. Thankfully, God will have the last word, for He is the first and the last Word. There is, of course, no evil that cannot be forgiven other than the proud refusal to accept forgiveness. We must dedicate our lives to prayer and penitence to obtain for ourselves and all other tyrants-in-waiting the gift of humility—especially for those who possess not the grace to see their own deep need for it. Bring back that dark, creepy, forsaken (but not God-forsaken!), magnificently enticing box.

The Dark Night of a Priestly Soul

This article is written by Fr. Gordon MacRae who was found guilty of molesting a young man, I think falsely, and is currently serving a very long prison term. I've read everything I can on this issue and agree that the charges leveled against him were without merit. He has always maintained his innocence. He writes a blog within his prison, Beyond These Stone Walls. It is very good. Here is the article about The Dark Night of a Priestly Soul: “It seems to the soul in this night that it is being carried out of itself by afflictions . . . This night is a painful disturbance involving many fears, imaginings, and struggles within a man. Due to the apprehension and feeling of his miseries, he suspects that he is lost and that his blessings are gone forever.” (St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night, Ch. 9, 5, 7) In his new book, Secular Sabotage (FaithWords, 2009), Catholic League President Bill Donohue wrote masterfully of the front lines of the culture war between the sacred and the secular. More than at any other time of the year, these two forces face off in the Christmas season in a culture seemingly at war with its own soul. When I was a younger priest, the period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day always felt like a mixed blessing. The demands on a parish priest at Christmas are very great. A spiritual observance of Advent and Christmas is an exhausting challenge against an ever-advancing tide of secular materialism.We priests experience in the Christmas season both the hope of the Incarnation and the limits of our human condition. It’s a spiritually vulnerable time that can heighten the intensity of loneliness, the pain of personal struggles and alienation, the agony of loss. Christmas can bring with it a deeply felt awareness of suffering and shadow, of spiritual and emotional vulnerability. It’s a time when, for some, the spring of hope can feel a lot more like the winter of despair.When I was asked to write an article addressing the priesthood crisis,at Christmas time, I felt very limited in scope. I was about to mark my seventeenth Christmas in prison. Frankly, Christmas in here is simply not what it is out there. It’s a time when the people around me suffer a great deal. Those with families and children are separated from them by impenetrable prison walls. Those who are alone have their loneliness magnified by the onslaught of Christmas imagery.I set out to write something warm and fuzzy for other priests at Christmas, but, well, it just wasn’t coming. I kept being drawn to some unfinished business, something that has gnawed at me for eight years. Justice requires that I try to make some spiritual sense of it. Now is the time. What I am about to write may be very painful for some to read. Whether you are a lay Catholic, or a priest, deacon, or religious, if you are reading this, I beg you to read carefully and understand. Eight years ago on December 29, 2002, a brother priest in my diocese took his own life. Father Richard Lower was 57 years old. He was a popular and very gifted – and giving – priest and human being. Father Lower had served Our Lady of Fatima Parish in New London, New Hampshire for the previous thirteen years, and he was much beloved by his parish family.There was a lot that happened in Father Lower’s personal life over the preceding year. He had undergone his sixth painful back surgery. Then he developed septicemia for which he was hospitalized again. Father Lower’s mother died that November. These factors, and likely others that are unknown, left Father Lower physically, emotionally, and spiritually bereft to face the newest terror that was to enter his life two days after Christmas eight years ago.NO CRUELER TYRANNIES. On December 27th, every priest’s worst modern nightmare was visited upon Father Richard Lower. He was informed by a diocesan official that a claim of sexual abuse had been lodged against him from thirty years earlier in 1972. Father Lower had never been previously accused. The accusation stood alone, but was enough – three decades later – to abruptly end a life of ministry and priestly self-giving.Based on the single, uncorroborated thirty-year-old claim, Father Lower was informed that the police would be notified. In accordance with the “zero tolerance” policy of the U.S. Bishops’ new Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, he was suspended from ministry and told that he must immediately vacate the parish he had served for thirteen years. As was every priest in the Diocese of Manchester, Father Lower was also painfully aware of an announcement from his bishop and diocese made just weeks earlier. In an unprecedented agreement between the Diocese and the State announced in December, 2002, the files and details of every accusation against any priest – regardless from however long ago – would be included in a vast public release of documents in March of 2003. Any privacy rights of the individual priests under canon or civil law were summarily discarded and waived by the signing of this agreement.Two days after celebrating Christ’s birth with the parish community he loved and served for thirteen years, Father Richard Lower lived Christ’s scourging, and was about to live the Scandal of the Cross in a way for which he had no defense. Succumbing to the darkest night of his soul, this good priest, walking alone in the valley of darkness, took his own life. Father Lower died without having either acknowledged or denied the 30-year-old claim brought against him. He died alone, apparently having reached out to no one. He left no note. A lot of people – including a number of priests – lamented that they could only imagine what Father Lower went through in those three days after Christmas. I did not have to imagine anything. I knew exactly what he went through: the feeling of living in a vacuum, the sense of isolation, the feeling of powerlessness, the utter despair of never, ever being able to erase the scarlet letter indelibly marking the accused – guilty and innocent alike; the sheer impossibility of any defense after the passage of three decades; the overwhelming despair of exactly what Saint John of the Cross described in his Dark Night of the Soul: “Due to the apprehension and feeling of his miseries, he suspects that he is lost and that his blessings are gone forever.”Do you know what you were doing on any given day in 1972? Can you document your answer? If you’re a Catholic priest, you may have to, and your very life may depend on it. Innocent or guilty, what Father Richard Lower faced in those days after Christmas eight years ago is a hopelessness unlike anything one could imagine without going through it. It was for good reason that Dorothy Rabinowitz entitled her 2005 book about the power of false sex abuse claims, No Crueler Tyrannies: Accusation, False Witness, and Other Terrors of Our Times.In my prison cell a few days after Christmas in 2002, my eyes closed when I read the headline story. I knew Father Richard Lower. He was a priest I admired, and one of only three priests of my Diocese who ever wrote to me in prison. Nine months before he was accused, Father Lower wrote to another friend lamenting the terror being visited upon other priests. When so many others looked away in silence, Father Lower wrote courageously to challenge the lack of due process and presumption of guilt when other priests were accused. From an April, 2002 letter of Father Lower to a friend: “The minute a man is accused, he’s immediately suspended. He is forced to leave his rectory within the hour. The result of this horrendous policy is that the priest is seen to be guilty until proven innocent.” With reference to his back surgery and other pressures, Father Lower reacted to the media attack that had so consumed the priesthood that year. In the same letter, he wrote: “With all the bad press the Church has received lately, it is very difficult to either work as a priest in public or even to recuperate as a priest. …As Always, the press has had a heyday with this topic and reported things whether true or untrue. Because the Church did not handle it properly in the past, they now have a policy of no tolerance …Another fallout to the scandal is that a ‘witch hunt’ has begun. It feels like all priests are suspects and no one can be trusted. Please pray for us. After Father Lower’s tragic death, an official of the Diocese of Manchester acknowledged the truth of exactly what Father Lower-feared, but also defended the policy. In a local news article, Father Edward Arsenault was quoted thusly: “In parish communities where priests have been put on leave, parishioners already believe them guilty. I know there is some expense. But I am confident that our policy is fair.” TREASURE AND TRAGEDY. It has been documented that some twenty-five American Catholic priests have taken their lives after being accused. Some in the news media have implied that their despair is evidence of guilt. How sad and shallow. People of justice and conscience have expressed concern that our use of the death penalty in criminal cases may have resulted in the execution of some innocent men. Given the hundreds of innocent men who have been wrongly imprisoned for rape and other crimes, then exonerated by retesting DNA evidence, the concern is justified. But isn’t it just as likely that some innocent priests were on that list of twenty-five who lost hope? Isn’t it possible that what some of them despaired most was the apparent end of justice and fairness, the sheer impossibility of defending themselves? Believe me on this, accusations of sexual abuse are far more devastating for the innocent than for the guilty. I believe that others who have been falsely accused will corroborate this fact. Absent clear and convincing evidence – and there has been none – I presume Father Richard Lower’s innocence. It’s what the United States Constitution bids me to do. It’s what the rule of law – both Church and civil – bids me to do, and it’s what the Gospel bids me to do. To presume anything else, absent evidence to the contrary, would belie a heart too jaded to claim to live justly and fairly, to claim to live the Gospel of Mercy. After the tragic suicide of another priest, Father William Rosensteel, in June, 2007, Catholic columnist Matt C. Abbott published a powerful statement on http://www.RenewAmerica.com. It was from an unnamed supporter of Father Rosensteel: “We need to remember how important a person’s good name is. To knowingly harm a person’s reputation without cause and clear evidence is a serious violation of the Eighth Commandment. The consequences of such violations are far-reaching and irreversible. Even a priest who is known to be guilty of the crime of child abuse should not be required to forfeit his life to satisfy attorneys, insurance companies, the media and plaintiffs. How much more is this true of a priest whose ‘case’ has not yet been decided?” (RenewAmerica, August 7, 2007) As I held the local newspaper in my hand on December 30, 2002, with a headline declaring the scandal of a priest’s suicide, I would have given anything to be on that wooded path that day with Father Lower at what he feared was the end of all things he held dear. I now wish I had the means to write in 2002 what I am writing here. It may have saved this good priest’s life. Even now there is hope – for Father Lower and for us.First, there’s a lesson to be learned. It’s especially important that priests and lay people reach out to priests burdened with the tyranny of decades-old claims of abuse. In “The Sacred Priesthood,” an essay for the Year of the Priest Father John Zuhlsdorf wrote: “The sacred priesthood is the common treasure and responsibility of the whole Church.” Doesn’t that treasure warrant the benefit of the doubt for priests accused? Doesn’t it call us to support them with our words, our prayers, our mercy, and – if needed – our forgiveness? “Today, the Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2283) recognizing that people who commit suicide suffer from anguish that can mitigate moral responsibility. I don’t think anyone can look justly at what happened to Father Lower and not see anguish there.This Year of the Priest is a time to have hope for Father Richard Lower’s soul, and, from our practice of mercy, for ourselves. We owe it to him and other priests who lost all hope to assist them still with our prayers and Masses, with our Gospel mandate to be merciful. We owe it to our spiritual brothers and fathers in the priesthood to resolve to never again let another priest walk alone through the valley of darkness. For my brother, Father Richard Lower: “Softly and gently, dearly-ransomed soul, In my most loving arms I now enfold thee, And, o’er the penal waters, as they roll, I poise thee, and I lower thee, and hold thee. And carefully I dip thee in the lake, And thou, without a sob or a resistance, Dost through the flood thy rapid passage take, Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim distance. Angels, to whom the willing task is given, Shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou liest; And Masses on the earth and prayers in heaven, Shall aid thee at the throne of the most Highest. Farewell, but not forever! Brother dear, Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow; Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here, And I will come and wake thee on the morrow. ”Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman,Conclusion: “The Dream of Gerontius.” Fr. Gordon MacRae writes weekly for http://thesestonewalls.com . His writings from prison have also appeared in First Things, The Catholic Response, Catalyst, and many online Catholic venues.

The Bearskinner: A Tale of the Brothers Grimm

"Man or bear? When a person gives up hope, is he still human? Such is the story of a soldier who has lost everything to war: his childhood home, his family and friends, his youth, and his innocence. Enter that sly opportunist, the devil, who wraps the soldier in the armor of a dead bear’s skin, fills its pockets with gold, and makes a dangerous and horrible wager. An unforgettable retelling of a classic Grimm tale, THE BEARSKINNER is a story about the struggle between the two sides of our selves, and the heroic strength it takes to claim a victory." (goodread review) Here is another review by Catholic All Year: My favorite children’s book is a retelling of a Grimm’s fairy tale called The Bearskinner. In it, a soldier makes a deal with the devil wherein the soldier has to wear a decaying bearskin and in exchange his pockets will be full of money for the rest of his life. To win, he can’t remove it, explain, kill himself, or pray for seven years. Of course the benefit of the money is overshadowed by the isolation and he despairs . . . until he realizes that he can give his pocket money to the poor and ask them to pray for him, since he can’t pray for himself. There’s a beautiful illustration in the book that shows the prayers as butterflies protecting him from the darkness.

The Assault on Thanksgiving

The Assault On Thanksgiving November 23, 2021 Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the latest attacks on Thanksgiving: The latest attack is courtesy of Yahoo.com, which is increasingly home to left-wing news stories and opinion pieces. In a recent column by Chelsea Ritschel, she rehashes the claims made in 2006 by Robert Jensen, a retired professor from the University of Texas at Austin. He suggests we scratch Thanksgiving altogether and atone for our sins. "One indication of moral progress in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day and its self-indulgent family feasting with a National Day of Atonement accompanied by a self-reflective collective fasting." We need to do that because of the "massacre of hundreds of Pequot Indian men, women and children" at the hands of the English. Actually, it is Jensen who needs to atone. More on that later. Historian Thomas E. Woods Jr. dispelled Jensen's myth, which is widely accepted in badly educated left-wing circles, in his bestselling book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. The Pequots were never a large tribe, and they were never wiped out by the Puritans. Their descendants are recognized today by the federal government and are one of the recognized tribes in Connecticut. The Puritans had political rights to Indian lands, but never property rights. In fact, as Woods makes clear, "The colonial governments actually punished individuals who made unauthorized acquisitions of Indian lands." Moreover, each colony worked cooperatively with the Indians to secure land, offering metal knives and hoes as well as clothing and jewelry. "The Puritans recognized Indian hunting and fishing rights on lands that the Indians had sold to them," writes Woods (his italics). Then there are the Catholic roots to Thanksgiving that Jensen and his ilk do not want to discuss. Eric Metaxas has done the best work on this subject, recalling the travails and triumphs of Squanto, a brave Patuxent Indian boy. In 1608 when Squanto was 12 years old he was kidnapped by English colonists and was taken to Spain as a slave. Fortunately for him, some monks bought him. They cared for him, taught him their language, and introduced him to Christianity. The monks knew the young Indian Catholic boy wanted to go back to America so they sent him to live with a London merchant, John Slanie, and his family. He learned English well, and after spending five years with the family, he boarded a ship to America. Squanto arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, which is where he grew up. He was stunned by what he found: everyone he knew was dead. Contrary to what left-wing liars say, they were not bludgeoned to death—they died of smallpox. According to Metaxas, the Pilgrims "basically adopted him." Lucky for them he spoke English and was able to help them. Indeed, Squanto "showed them everything there was to know. He showed them how to catch fish, where the lobsters were, how to tread the eels out of the mud in the stream beds. He basically single-handedly showed them how to survive." Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth colony wrote in his journal that Squanto was a special person sent by God. As a tribute to the bond they had established, Squanto and the Pilgrims celebrated a Thanksgiving dinner. The custom originated in 1621 when Bradford recognized a day of public praise and prayer after the first harvest. The first national observance did not occur until President Washington, at the request of Congress, named Thursday November 26, 1789, as a "day of public thanksgiving and prayer." The Left does not want us to acknowledge the truth about Thanksgiving. They want us to atone. We should never atone for the sins of others. Indeed, it is a cheap ploy, a political weapon used by left-wing haters who want to brand innocent Americans today for the alleged (often contrived) offenses of people they never knew. But if there is to be a National Day of Atonement, it should be either May 1, International Workers' Day, or Labor Day in September. Left-wing professors and activists should atone for their defense of Marxism and its bloody history. Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and other Communist genocidal maniacs are responsible for murdering approximately 150 million people in the twentieth century, all in the name of workers' rights. Meanwhile, let's all partake in "self-indulgent family feasting" on Thanksgiving and thank the Lord for our Catholic-rooted national holiday.

Why we need Heroes and good role models

Most people are employed for what they do. Others find jobs for what they know; however, few people find their function exclusively in what they are.

Of the three jobs, the latter is by far the most important and difficult. The other two involve situations where individuals can rest from their occupations. The third job calls for persons to represent what they are at all times and places. They must live up to specific standards that define them and for which they are known. Such was the case of Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who once lived as part of England’s royal family. Their role was to be the almost fairy-tale models for a world in need of them. They were called to embody all that is excellent in the British nation so that others might strive to imitate them. Everyone now knows their tragic story. In the recent interview on Oprah Winfrey’s show, the couple tried to justify the abandonment of their role as models. They expressed instead the desire to live a contradiction. They want to lead an ordinary life while enjoying and cashing in on the notoriety that comes from their extraordinary role. Many looked upon the interview with distaste. It was an exercise of woke victimhood as the couple accused the royal family of racism, elitism and other maladies. They railed against the monarchical system that demanded service and restraint. The two royals reveled in the freedom of defining who they wished to be. Many might be tempted to write off the whole episode as proof of the rottenness of all elites. They might reason the world would be better off without them. Such a conclusion is at odds with the real world. People need heroic figures who can embody the best of humanity. There need to be people who set the standard. Such figures are capable of great deeds and actions. However, their main role is to unite, harmonize and elevate society by the power of their presence. Take them away, and society decays into mediocrity and sloth. Indeed, sociologists recognize this innate need, and some identify these figures as what are called “representative characters.” As scholar Alasdair MacIntyre writes, such characters “are, so to speak, the moral representatives of their culture and they are so because of the way in which moral and metaphysical ideas and theories assume through them an embodied existence in the social world.” “A representative character is a kind of symbol,” writes Robert N. Bellah. “It is a way by which we can bring together in one concentrated image the way people in a given social environment organize and give meaning and direction to their lives.” Thus, Harry and Meghan are meant to be representative characters. They should take upon themselves the sacrifice of being models for society. The privilege of being part of royalty is merely a platform from which they can better offer their disinterested service to all. The role of true elites is to be representative characters that engage, encourage, coax and interpret all that is most excellent out of society. As for royals, they aim at such high standards that many often take them to be the stuff of fairy tales. That is why all levels of society find fulfillment in representative characters. Far from causing class struggle, these figures serve to unify society around sublime ideals. Their role is to sacrifice themselves for the common good of the nation. Thus, the Queen commands the respect of everyone—even the two errant royals. Despite her shortcomings, she endures well into her nineties, representing the British nation with grace and dignity. She is a living symbol of stability, self-sacrifice and decorum in a cold, cruel and volatile world. Postmodern society destroys the narratives that support representative characters. It encourages self-aggrandizement and success with no duties attached. The Oprah interview demonstrated this well. It presented the model of false elites that holds a selfish and individualistic outlook where there are no objective standards of excellence. Everything is subjective and directed inward. The most important matters are emotional and passionate. It is all about self, not the serving of others. When events eventually turn against these false elites, the protagonists turn against the system with resentment and bitterness. False elites no longer direct heroic actions. They whine about the injustice of the same system, which affords them so many privileges. The extreme effort of the hero is replaced by the easy sloth of the victim who demands everything. Thus, many people find cause to denounce the swamp of false elites destroying society by the horribleness of their bad examples. These unrepresentative characters inspire and fool no one. Quite the contrary, false elites are like the Gospel salt that loses its savor. It is good for nothing but to be trodden underfoot, which is what the scorning multitudes do.

Thus, contrary to the populist spirit of the times, society needs good elites who can be those representative characters that sociologists claim are essential. Society needs models, and youth need heroes. People are tired of ideological and partisan political agendas. There must be those who sacrifice for the common good. Above all, this kind of society presupposes the help of God’s grace to overcome the weakness of fallen human nature. That is why true elites are naturally Christian. The supreme figure is Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who embraced the Cross and died on it to provide a divinely heroic model for all ages to come.(credit: TFP.org)

St. Faustina's Visions of the Afterlife

Acts of Mercy and Justice

St. Basil the Great said:"The bread you do not use is the bread of the hungry. The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of the person who is naked. The shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot. The money you keep locked away is the money of the poor. The acts of charity you do not perform are the injustices you commit." Lent is the perfect time to ask ourselves what we’re holding onto — and who truly needs it.

The Salesian Option

This paragraph from the article "The Salesian Option" really resonated with me and I think will go far to heal our people:" It is because of St. Francis’ ingenious and zealous use of the communication technologies of his time that the Church has for 54 years now celebrated the World Day of Communication on his feast day, the 24th of January. Pope Francis has delivered some incisive addresses for this day the past few years, especially in 2018, where he discussed fake news and the need for truth as the bedrock for societal peace; indeed, we can see how that warning continues woefully to unfold in current events. The need for communicators—and journalists especially—to see their job as a vocation in service of the truth and in service of people, is so much more necessary today. The goal of a communicator, to borrow from Fred Rogers’ exceptional speech when he was induced into the TV Hall of Fame in 1999 (bring your tissues), is to “make goodness attractive” and to teach people, and especially youth, “to cherish life”." (The Catholic World Report)

God's little creatures

I saw this on pinterest and read the story about the bees showing reverence for Holy Icons and wanted to share: here is the history By Monk Simon In the region of Kapandriti near Athens, a wonderful thing happens. Ten years ago, a devout beekeeper named Isidoros Ţiminis, thought to place in one of his hives an icon of the Crucifixion of the Lord. Soon thereafter, when he opened the hive, he was amazed that the bees showed respect and devotion to the icon, having "embroidered" it in wax, yet leaving uncovered the face and body of the Lord. Since then, every spring, he puts into the hives icons of the Savior, the Virgin Mary and the Saints, and the result is always the same. Once I brought a handmade icon from a convent, that represented Golgotha with three crosses. Bees "embroidered" with wax the entire surface of the composition, leaving one to clearly perceive the Cross of Christ and the Thief at his right hand while the thief on the left cross was covered with a thick layer of wax. Last time I went, we put in an icon of St. Stephen the Proto-Martyr and Archdeacon, whose name our humble publishing company bears. As you can see from the picture that we publish here, the entire icon is clothed in beeswax, leaving uncovered his face and body. Source: The Saint's Love For Animals and the Animal's Love For the Saints. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Let us love God

Heart of Divine Love by Flemish engraver Cornelius de Boudt, (1660-1737). Because I find that within this image and its message, is space for endless meditation, after the translation of the words of Cornelius de Boudt, I took the liberty of sharing my interpretation of this most precious image: "JESUS GIVES US ALL A HEART AND A REASON" The Sacred Heart of Our Savior, inseparably encircled by the Father's Heart draws together as one ~ in an infinite community of love ~ all those in whom the image of the Triune God has been restored (the saints) and all of us who, through the action of the Holy Spirit, are being sanctified.(holycardheaven.blog)

The Cloistered Heart

I just discovered that the blogger Nancy Shuman of the Cloistered Heart died in 2017. Her blog is still worth visiting. There is so much wisdom and spiritual direction to be found:

A new Priest embraces his mother

Painting: A priest embraces his mother after his first Mass, José Alcázar Tejedor

After ordination, a priest's hands are consecrated with holy chrism and a manutergium is used to wipe the sacred oil from his hands. Since the chrism has been blessed by a bishop, it cannot be thrown in the trash or washed by normal means. Instead, an ancient and pious tradition continues by the priest giving his mother the manutergium. Tradition states:

When she arrives to the gates of heaven she is escorted directly to our Lord. Our Lord says to the woman – “I have given you life, what have you given to me?'” She hands him the manutergium and responds, “I have given you my son as a priest.” At this, Jesus grants her entry into paradise.

For the father, a recent tradition states that a priest will give his father his stole that was used for his first confession, indicating that fathers are instrumental in forming good men before they become priests.

What does this tell us? It tells us that the family is indeed the foundation of society and is rightfully called, "the Domestic Church" where vocations are born and cultivated through the pursuit of holiness.

In Sinu Jesu

In Christianity, the central core is the revelation that ‘The Infinite’, the ‘Wholly Other’; ‘That which cannot be named’; is revealed to us as a deeply personal loving God, In Jesus Christ. Many prefer Deism, an impersonal force who made the Universe, then left it alone. A relationship does not enter into the equation, nor any concept of love, obedience and humble service to the creator.

Christians often forget the depth of God’s love as presented to us in Jesus Christ. He told his Apostles, and tells us today, “That to see me, is to see the Father”. It is a hard reality to grasp. It is for me. All the years as a monk I have struggled with this central mystery of Christ Jesus’s revelation of the Father’s love for each of us. It is because my heart is protected. I fear the pain that love brings, yet I seek to dive more deeply into it. So there is an inner contradiction that I experience that can only be healed by the grace of the Father’s burning love. There is a standing invitation to allow ourselves to be drawn into the eternal dance of the ‘Holy Trinity’, which will never be withdrawn from God’s side.

The paradox to this is that in order to fully allow God’s love to embrace me, I have to grow in the understanding of my inner-self and the often not so beautiful aspect of that. I can be fearful, that leads to anger, which at bottom, anxiety is feeding it all. I am 69 years old and at this stage of my life, finally starting to open up and to trust in God love for me. It has taken many self-inflicted wounds, the experiencing of my own self-hatred, and alienation, that has slowly healed me.

For in my darkest hour, when filled with my own misery and isolation, the light of God’s love has always broken through. I have accepted the fact that I am pursued by God, and that God will never let me go. Yet I am free and have had to make a choice to trust even when drowning in my own misery. For it is all lies, that I am beyond help, or healing, or mercy. We are all vessels of God’s love and each of us is called to allow Christ Jesus to incarnate in each of us. Our capacity to receive God’s love grows as we continue to grow in love and trust. When I pray I now feel my connection to every human being who are on their journey towards healing and deeper intimacy with God, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.

In the book “In Sinu Jesu”, Jesus speaks to a Benedictine Monk of his love for each of us, and in a special way, for the priest, and how that love is manifested in his abiding presence in the Holy Eucharist. As a Catholic, I can take the reality of Christ Jesus’s Eucharistic presence for granted. This book can open up anyone’s heart to the infinite depth of God’s love for each of us, without exception.

Karl Rahner stated that ‘private revelations’, are given to the church at different points in time because it is needed. It is not a new revelation but stated in terms that can be understood by people in certain eras. Today, love has seemed to have grown cold, or colder. So we need to be reminded of the Fathers infinite love for each of us.

On Tuesday, January 26th, 20 10 (pg. 139) Jesus relayed this message to the Benedictine monk:

“Do you not see how much I have been calling you to trust in me? Trust is the key that opens all the treasures of My merciful and infinitely loving Heart. I am touched by a single act of trust in My merciful love more than by a multitude of good works. The soul who trusts in Me allows Me to work freely in her life. The soul who trust Me, by that very fact removes the obstacles of pride and self-determination that impede My freedom of action. There is nothing I will not do for the soul who abandons herself to me in a simple act of trust”.

Either ‘fear’ or ‘trust’ is growing in the soul. The more we love, fear will lessen. The opposite is also true. The more we believe ‘fear’, then ‘trust’ will weaken. Fear is a form of self-absorption, trust is letting go of being overly concerned about one’s self and seeking to grow deeper in intimacy with the beloved.

As Christian we are called to be lovers, to show forth Christ infinite love for all. When that is forgotten, then fear, and anxiety, and anger will come to the fore. That is how we protect ourselves from others, we place barriers. It is only by the healing of our inner defenses, which we receive through Jesus Christ, that we can let go of fear. It is not something we can do on our own, yet we can make a free choice to trust and in that God’s healing love will flow through us.

There is nothing that can stop God loving us, yet we can choose to turn our backs on that reality. Each day is a new beginning. Each moment even. For no matter where we find ourselves, there is always a way out through the merciful love of Christ Jesus. We stop being victims and can step forward in hope and faith and love. –Br.MD (Mark Dohle)

O Sovereign and true leader...

O Sovereign and true leader, O Christ, my King,
I kneel before Thee here like a vassal in the old feudal times
to take my oath of fealty.
I place my joined hands within Thy wounded hands and promise Thee inviolable loyalty.
I dedicate to Thee all the powers of my soul,
all the senses of my body,
and all the affections of my heart.
Take, O Lord, all my liberty.
Receive my memory, my understanding, and my whole will.
All that I am, all that I have, Thou hast given me, and
I restore it all to Thee, to be disposed of according to Thy good pleasure.
Give me only Thy love and Thy grace;
with these I am rich enough, and desire nothing more. Fr. Lasance Missal

I will kneel before the altar of God.
I will receive my King upon my tongue.
I will offer my oath of fealty in coin
and candleflame...
(Stefanie Nicholas)

Look down upon me....

"Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus." "Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, while before your face I humbly kneel, and with burning soul pray and beseech you to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment, while I contemplate with great love and tender pity your five wounds, pondering over them within me, calling to mind the words which David, your prophet, said of you, my good Jesus: "They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones." PLENARY INDULGENCE when recited on a Friday in Lent and Passiontide, when recited after Communion before an image of Christ crucified. On any other day the indulgence is partial.

THE CROWN OF THORNS

MEDITATIONS FOR LENT FROM ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY: THE CROWN OF THORNS

Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart. (Cant 3:5).

This is the voice of the Church inviting the souls of the faithful to behold the marvellous beauty of her Spouse. For the daughters of Sion, who are they but the daughters of Jerusalem, holy souls, the citizens of that city which is above, who with the angels enjoy the peace that knows no end, and, in consequence, look upon the glory of the Lord?

1. Go forth, shake off the disturbing commerce of this world so that, with minds set free, you may be able to contemplate Him whom you love. And see king Solomon, the true peacemaker, that is to say, Christ Our Lord.

In the diadem wherewith His mother crowned Him, as though the Church said, "Look on Christ garbed with flesh for us, the flesh He took from the flesh of His mother." For it is His flesh that is here called a diadem, the flesh which Christ assumed for us, the flesh in which He died and destroyed the reign of death, the flesh in which, rising once again, He brought to us the hope of resurrection.

This is the diadem of which St. Paul speaks, We see Jesus for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour (Heb 2:9). His mother is spoken of as crowning Him because Mary the Virgin it was who from her own flesh gave Him flesh.

In the day of His espousals, that is, in the hour of His Incarnation, when He took to Himself the Church not having spot or wrinkle (Eph 5:27), the hour again when God was joined with man. And in the day of the joy of His heart. For the joy and the gaiety of Christ is for the human race salvation and redemption. And coming home, He calls together His friends and neighbours saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost (Luke 15:6).

2. We can however refer the whole of this text simply and literally to the Passion of Christ. For Solomon, foreseeing through the centuries the Passion of Christ, was uttering a warning for the daughters of Sion, that is, for the Jewish people.

Go forth and see king Solomon, that is, Christ, in His diadem, that is to say, the crown of thorns with which His mother the Synagogue has crowned him; in the day of His espousals, the day when He joined to Himself the Church; and in the day of the joy of His heart, the day in which He rejoiced that by His Passion He was delivering the world from the power of the devil. Go forth, therefore, and leave behind the darkness of unbelief, and see, understand with your minds that He who suffers as man is really God.

Go forth, beyond the gates of your city, that you may see Him, on Mount Calvary, crucified.

Lectio Divina

Here is the method:

* Choose a quiet spot alone to pray.
* Focus your mind and heart on God.
* Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through the Scriptures.
* Begin prayerfully reading your chosen passage.
* When anything moves you, pause. Ponder. Talk to God about what you have read, praise Him, or silently lift your heart to Him in love–whichever
you feel moved to do.
* When your conversation with God dries up, return to your passage.
* Repeat steps 5 and 6 until your time is almost ended.
* End with the Our Father, another vocal prayer of your choice, or a brief word of thanksgiving.

When does Tolerance become Tyranny?

Nobody wants to dispute the fact that tolerance is a virtue, and nobody wants to argue for intolerance, however, there does need to be an ordering of virtue. Tolerance is too often mistaken for charity, and having good manners is too often mistaken for being good. Real goodness, like real charity is tough love because real goodness, like real charity, loves the truth and the truth hurts. (please read this article by Fr. Longnecker. It is really good and helps with one's thinking clearly.)
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/longenecker/the-tightrope-of-tolerance-and-tyranny

O Sacred Heart of Jesus

For the Help of the Sacred Heart

Take away, O my Jesus, the blindness of my heart, that I may know Thee; take away the hardness of my heart, that I may fear Thee; take away the coldness of my heart, that I may resist everything that is contrary to Thy will; take away its heavy, earthly sluggishness and selfishness, that I may be capable of heroic sacrifice for Thy glory, and for the souls whom Thou has redeemed with Thy own most precious blood. Amen.

Eternal Sacrifice

Vintage St. Joseph's Catholic Church

Here are photos of the original St. Joseph's built in 1911. It was a beautiful space. I know the people who "updated" the interior thought they were doing a good thing. But, I love the old space better:

St. Joseph's Catholic Church - stained glass windows

Don't you love stained glass windows in a church? They not only bring beauty and light into the sanctuary, but teach as well. Here are some of the stained glass windows at St. Joseph's in Auburn:

St. Joseph's Catholic Church

I love this little church in the foothills east of Sacramento. Our daughter was married there. We attended catechism classes there and were confirmed in the faith. I would love to see this church restored to its original.