Curveballs, Fire, and Critique

I am copying Meryl's blog format for this post.  You will find below three sections.  1) My life, 2) A reflection on Purgatory, and 3) Something controversial.

SECTION ONE: Baseball on the mind...?

God likes to throw odd pitches to me at very strategic times, I've noticed.  Maybe He thinks I'm a good hitter and wants to challenge me...maybe it's a warning to say I should look out...maybe it's a test...maybe it's just Him laughing at me.  I don't know.  Sometimes He throws a curveball and I don't anticipate it (or know how to swing!), and sometimes He'll throw a slider and I'll basically run into the ground.  Whatever it is, it means that He's telling me something.  Oh, that I had ears to hear!

I got a pitch thrown at me recently, and it's in slow motion, so I'm not even sure if it IS a curveball.  All I know is that God is true to His word.  He told me that He has my life worked out for me.  So I guess I should stop worrying about the pitch and let Him tell me whether or not to swing instead of analyzing it from a thousand different angles.  Cooperation is the key.

SECTION TWO: A little more serious.

In dealing with frustrating situations, knowing that cooperation with God's grace and the situations in which I find myself can be directed toward a greater End: the greater glory of God and the salvation of my soul and of those souls around me.  It's important to remember that every action, every thought, every inclination, will be examined on the day of Judgment.  Everything will lead us further from Christ or closer to Him.  And we'll have to give an account of everything...EVERYTHING...at the end of our lives.  Modern society likes to tell us that there are no consequences, no rules, and nothing to worry about during life, and that there's nothing awaiting us after we die.  The Church knows something different...consequences are real, rules effectively gives us freedom rather than slavery, and that, after we pass from this fleeting life...there is Heaven or Hell forever.

This morning, Canon Jean-Marie Moreau, ICKSP, gave a homily that was nothing short of shocking.  It's the month of November (in your charity, please stop reading and say a prayer for the poor souls in Purgatory.  Pater Noster...Ave Maria...Gloria Patri...), so Father preached on the reality of Purgatory.  He said that the fire we know here on earth is a fire that was created for our convenience: cooking, heating, purifying, etc.  The fires in Purgatory are the same as the fires in Hell.  They were created for our inconvenience, for punishment.  The souls in Purgatory yearn to be relieved of their suffering and to be united with God. They can no longer help themselves while they are in Purgatory.  They rely on OUR prayers.

SECTION THREE: Some of you may not like this....

...but I've been reading Alice von Hildebrand's critique on Christopher West's take on A Theology of the Body, the popular work by Pope John Paul II on the meaning of human sexuality and love, and its relation to the Divine Persons.  Having read both the TOB (for a class at Ave Maria) and Alice von Hildebrand's critique, I very much recommend it to you.  The reason I bring this up at all is because I've gotten a few emails from an FSSP priest with various different resources on thoughts of the TOB.  (Side Note: He highly recommends reading St. Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle or St. Francis de Sales' Introduction to the Devout Life instead.  I must agree with him; trying to explore such mysteries without careful thought, great wisdom, and constant guidance is very dangerous.  Spiritual reading by the Doctors of the Church and the mystics is more edifying, tried-and-true, and conducive to salvation.)  However, if you are a TOB fan (or not!), you may find Mrs. von Hildebrand's reflections to be thought-provoking and beneficial to your own understanding.  You can find the link here.

When life gives you lemons...

Chuck them at people!

Not that I have any lemons at present.  :)  I just heard that yesterday on "Lie to Me" and thought it was brilliant.  On to better, greater thoughts...

America has set such a double standard.  If anyone twitches in the general direction of a Muslim, the media is outraged, nonsensical comments get posted on CNN, and people think it'll cause a nuclear strike against America in the coming weeks.  But when the Democratic party in Minnesota blatently attacks the Catholic Church, there are no such headlines, no outrages, no snide comments, no nothing.  On the one hand, we must be doing something right.  On the other...when will we stand up and fight for what we believe in?  Part of the reason that Islam is so powerful is that they are convinced of what they believe and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.  When will Catholics have the same convictions?  Of course I'm not advocating blowing up people that don't believe as we do.  I am, however, advocating a renewal of true Catholic activism.  There's a lot of junk surrounding us in these days, and, as Catholics and as missionaries in the truest sense, it's our responsibility and obligation to work through it, be faithful, and save souls.  I don't care if you're a layman, husband, wife, student, child, priest, religious, bishop, the Pope, or run-of-the-mill apathetic cafeteria Catholic.  By virtue of your baptism and confirmation, you signed up in Christ's army.  Now it's time to fight the battles.  If you don't like it, don't pretend!!

"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot.  But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth." Apocalypse 3:15-16

Plans. Or lack thereof.

I'm not really famous for my cheery optimism or upbeat attitude.  Since being in San Francisco, however, I've received more compliments on my good work ethic and smiling face than I ever have in my life.  Maybe I'm good at faking it.  Or maybe that's the kind of results (read: happiness?) that you get when you try to do what God asks of you.

I didn't exactly beg God to let me end up in San Francisco after graduating.  In fact, I had a fantastic life plan, and a decent backup plan when that one proved to have failed.  But He asked something different of me and made it so that this was the only thing that worked out.  I had two choices: roll with it, come out here with no assurances on just blind faith, or deny Him and sit around doing nothing.  The choice was clear: this is what He was asking of me, and, no matter how afraid I was or how skeptical I was or how reluctant I was...this was it.  So now, I'm out here without a plan, save to go where He leads when He leads.  (I just pray it doesn't take too long!!)

God's will is a tricky thing.  I spent years discerning and praying for Him to show me His will about a million things.  Sometimes what I discerned was correct, sometimes it wasn't.  But it was always clear when the chips were down.  He doesn't hide His will from us; we hide ourselves from Him.

"Perhaps your own reiterated cries deafen you to the voice you hoped to hear." - C.S. Lewis

Transitions

Major life transitions are always tricky.  You have to have the proper balance among virtue, strength, poise, resign, trust, openness, and closedness.  A small Catholic university with which I have some familiarity and small-city Texas is just a little different from Fruit and Nut Central, California.  It's been a crazy ride, but, after 5 solid months of being here, I'm finally starting to adjust :-)  I have a good job, good friends, an opportunity to go to the Latin Mass and meet people of the same mindset as myself, and I sing in a good choir

Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quid retribuit mihi?
What shall I render unto the Lord for all that He hath rendered unto me?

It makes me wonder...what was the major life transition for Our Lady like?  She was just a young girl when the Angel rocked her world.  The prophecies rang through her ears: Behold, a virgin shall conceive..., By His stripes, we were healed..., He hath born the sins of many...  What an overwhelming and terrifying message.  And yet...through it all...she rose to the call, accepted  her "vocatio", as one called by God, even by name: FIAT.  But after that moment in the Incarnation/Annunciation, the Angel departed from her.  In Christoph Cardinal Schönborn's new book The Joy of Being a Priest (Ignatius Press, 2010), he describes Mary after this departure as being left with no consolation (con+solatio = to be with [another] in solitude), no ecstacies, no visions, nothing - save the promise of seven swords.  And the promise of VICTORY.  Mary "held all these things in her heart".  She didn't complain, she didn't protest, she didn't even defend herself when Joseph found out she was pregnant.  Assumedly, she would have accepted the quiet divorce from her upright husband.  What a burden it must have been to go through life alone.  At least, that's what we, on a human level, would think.  But Mary was the Theotokos, mother of God, full-of-grace, tabernacle of the Holy Ghost, one without blemish, without sin.  She was human, yes, but she knew better than any of us do that she was never alone.  She threw herself entirely upon the mercy and the love of God.  Her Magnificat is arguably the most glorious praise a human being could have ever rendered to God.  "The Almighty has done great things for me: HOLY is His Name."  She was called to a Love and an obedience so far above our own levels of comprehension, and she did not deny her Master.  (Side note: Reading St. Alphonsus Liguori on obedience is one of the most humbling and most eye-opening exhortations I've ever read.  It reminds me how attached to my own will I am every time.  Obedience is most pleasing to God, even if it sounds crazy, even if you don't understand it.)

"What shall I render unto the Lord...?"  Trust.  Humility.  Obedience.

"Do you truly trust Me?"
"Yes, Lord, I do."
"Then why do you keep worrying?  It has been taken care of."

Note the use of past tense.  From all eternity, He has a plan for us.  We worry on our own ends to no avail.

Vulgate editions

 Interesting! Again from Fr. Z:

A reader alerted me to this interesting post at Canterbury Tales:

How do you know which "Vulgate" you have? Open up your Latin Vulgate to Genesis 3:20. How is Eve’s name spelled? This will immediately tell which "Vulgate" you have in your hands:

• If it’s spelled Heva: Clementine Vulgate (1592) – the standard printed Vulgate of the Catholic Church for Scripture and Liturgy until the Nova Vulgata (1979)
  
• If it’s spelled Hava: Stuttgart Vulgate (1969) – a scholarly critical edition of the Vulgate from the German Bible Society, not used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. This is an academic Vulgate with a critical apparatus – it often includes the Pslater iuxta Hebraeos.
  
• If it’s spelled Eva: Nova Vulgata (1979) – the official Catholic edition of the Vulgate currently used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church (i.e. Missale Romanum 1969 & Liturgia Horarum)
  

This is the only fool-proof way for knowing which edition of the Vulgate that you have in your hands. So grab your Vulgate and check it out. I checked out the New Advent Vulgate at Gen 3:20 and happily discovered that it’s the Clementine Vulgate.

 In case anyone cares/ uses this edition of the Vulgate, the Vulgate online is apparently the Stuttgart Vulgate.

The Pope's Message for Lent

Though it was published 4-Feb, I found it a little late.  Good thing Lent is so long.  This is the Pope's message:

From Zenit:

 Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Each year, on the occasion of Lent, the Church invites us to a sincere review of our life in light of the teachings of the Gospel. This year, I would like to offer you some reflections on the great theme of justice, beginning from the Pauline affirmation: "The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ" (cf. Rm 3, 21-22).

Justice: "dare cuique suum"

First of all, I want to consider the meaning of the term "justice," which in common usage implies "to render to every man his due," according to the famous expression of Ulpian, a Roman jurist of the third century. In reality, however, this classical definition does not specify what "due" is to be rendered to each person. What man needs most cannot be guaranteed to him by law. In order to live life to the full, something more intimate is necessary that can be granted only as a gift: we could say that man lives by that love which only God can communicate since He created the human person in His image and likeness. Material goods are certainly useful and required – indeed Jesus Himself was concerned to heal the sick, feed the crowds that followed Him and surely condemns the indifference that even today forces hundreds of millions into death through lack of food, water and medicine – yet "distributive" justice does not render to the human being the totality of his "due." Just as man needs bread, so does man have even more need of God. Saint Augustine notes: if "justice is that virtue which gives every one his due ... where, then, is the justice of man, when he deserts the true God?" (De civitate Dei, XIX, 21).

What is the Cause of Injustice?

The Evangelist Mark reports the following words of Jesus, which are inserted within the debate at that time regarding what is pure and impure: "There is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him … What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts" (Mk 7, 14-15, 20-21). Beyond the immediate question concerning food, we can detect in the reaction of the Pharisees a permanent temptation within man: to situate the origin of evil in an exterior cause. Many modern ideologies deep down have this presupposition: since injustice comes "from outside," in order for justice to reign, it is sufficient to remove the exterior causes that prevent it being achieved. This way of thinking – Jesus warns – is ingenuous and shortsighted. Injustice, the fruit of evil, does not have exclusively external roots; its origin lies in the human heart, where the seeds are found of a mysterious cooperation with evil. With bitterness the Psalmist recognises this: "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps 51,7). Indeed, man is weakened by an intense influence, which wounds his capacity to enter into communion with the other.

By nature, he is open to sharing freely, but he finds in his being a strange force of gravity that makes him turn in and affirm himself above and against others: this is egoism, the result of original sin. Adam and Eve, seduced by Satan’s lie, snatching the mysterious fruit against the divine command, replaced the logic of trusting in Love with that of suspicion and competition; the logic of receiving and trustfully expecting from the Other with anxiously seizing and doing on one’s own (cf. Gn 3, 1-6), experiencing, as a consequence, a sense of disquiet and uncertainty. How can man free himself from this selfish influence and open himself to love?

Justice and Sedaqah

At the heart of the wisdom of Israel, we find a profound link between faith in God who "lifts the needy from the ash heap" (Ps 113,7) and justice towards one’s neighbor. The Hebrew word itself that indicates the virtue of justice, sedaqah, expresses this well. Sedaqah, in fact, signifies on the one hand full acceptance of the will of the God of Israel; on the other hand, equity in relation to one’s neighbour (cf. Ex 20, 12-17), especially the poor, the stranger, the orphan and the widow (cf. Dt 10, 18-19). But the two meanings are linked because giving to the poor for the Israelite is none other than restoring what is owed to God, who had pity on the misery of His people. It was not by chance that the gift to Moses of the tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai took place after the crossing of the Red Sea. Listening to the Law presupposes faith in God who first "heard the cry" of His people and "came down to deliver them out of hand of the Egyptians" (cf. Ex 3,8). God is attentive to the cry of the poor and in return asks to be listened to: He asks for justice towards the poor (cf. Sir 4,4-5, 8-9), the stranger (cf. Ex 22,20), the slave (cf. Dt 15, 12-18). In order to enter into justice, it is thus necessary to leave that illusion of self-sufficiency, the profound state of closure, which is the very origin of injustice. In other words, what is needed is an even deeper "exodus" than that accomplished by God with Moses, a liberation of the heart, which the Law on its own is powerless to realize. Does man have any hope of justice then?

Christ, the Justice of God

The Christian Good News responds positively to man’s thirst for justice, as Saint Paul affirms in the Letter to the Romans: "But now the justice of God has been manifested apart from law … the justice of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith" (3, 21-25).

What then is the justice of Christ? Above all, it is the justice that comes from grace, where it is not man who makes amends, heals himself and others. The fact that "expiation" flows from the "blood" of Christ signifies that it is not man’s sacrifices that free him from the weight of his faults, but the loving act of God who opens Himself in the extreme, even to the point of bearing in Himself the "curse" due to man so as to give in return the "blessing" due to God (cf. Gal 3, 13-14). But this raises an immediate objection: what kind of justice is this where the just man dies for the guilty and the guilty receives in return the blessing due to the just one? Would this not mean that each one receives the contrary of his "due"? In reality, here we discover divine justice, which is so profoundly different from its human counterpart. God has paid for us the price of the exchange in His Son, a price that is truly exorbitant. Before the justice of the Cross, man may rebel for this reveals how man is not a self-sufficient being, but in need of Another in order to realize himself fully. Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel, ultimately means this: to exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one’s own need – the need of others and God, the need of His forgiveness and His friendship. So we understand how faith is altogether different from a natural, good-feeling, obvious fact: humility is required to accept that I need Another to free me from "what is mine," to give me gratuitously "what is His." This happens especially in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Thanks to Christ’s action, we may enter into the "greatest" justice, which is that of love (cf. Rm 13, 8-10), the justice that recognises itself in every case more a debtor than a creditor, because it has received more than could ever have been expected.

Strengthened by this very experience, the Christian is moved to contribute to creating just societies, where all receive what is necessary to live according to the dignity proper to the human person and where justice is enlivened by love.

Dear brothers and sisters, Lent culminates in the Paschal Triduum, in which this year, too, we shall celebrate divine justice – the fullness of charity, gift, salvation. May this penitential season be for every Christian a time of authentic conversion and intense knowledge of the mystery of Christ, who came to fulfill every justice. With these sentiments, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, 30 October 2009

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

© Copyright 2010 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Liturgical Issues in a new light...

A little comic relief from Fr. Z:

There is a fun post over at St. Louis Catholic:

If today’s faithful Catholic is represented by Elizabeth Bennet, bright, hopeful and coming of age, then the liturgical forms would have to be represented by Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham.

Mr. Wickham is immediately accessible, loves to talk—especially about how bad ol’ Darcy is—has some initial minor flash but soon proves to be tedious and unreliable.

Mr. Darcy at first glance looks stuffy and condescending, but proves over time to be noble, true, of high quality and charitable.

The ordinary and the extraordinary.

_____________

Yes, I actually thought this, and then typed it, and therefore I am a loser.  [No… people who can’t refer to Austen are the losers.]

P.S. Mrs. Bennet would represent Marek Bozek. Just sayin’.  [LOL]