Rosary Pilgrimage

 Two of my friends and I are at the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. 

Jean is in back. Mary is on the left. We are on the train. We are staying with the Marian Fathers during the Retreat. Already my prayer life is better.  

Everything's a First

 Paul Robinson was released from prison, after 52 years!  Here's a write up on him. Project Innocence proved him innocent.  What's even more interesting is that he doesn't hold any bitterness.  He says, "What good would it do?"

He's living in the moment and lovin' it!

 One of my friends recommended an audio book because the author did the reading.  He recommended Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey.

Yes, I enjoyed the author reading his own book.  What a life McConaughey had!  It seemed that everything he touched turned to gold.  When it didn't, it's "alright, alright."  He went on.

     His parents were crazy.  Just the fact that his parents married twice and divorced three times--to each other, speaks for itself.  Their morality was questionable.  Cheating, stealing, and breaking the rules were acceptable--just don't get caught.  I wonder if Matthew thinks like that now that he's a parent, himself.

     Matthew worked his way up into doing more and more films until he could pick and choose what he himself wanted to do.  He took breaks to travel around in a recreational vehicle.  Traveled here and there and behaved or didn't behave.  

    Yes, it's a memoir, but I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much as I did if he weren't reading it.  Yes, buy it, but make sure it's the audio version. The title, "Greenlights" comes from the traffic light signals where the green light tells you to go ahead.  

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Multiplication

 One of my hiking groups is from the Senior Center.  Sometimes we're as many as 12 people.  This morning we were six.  At least we started out with six.  

This was the entrance to the Cranberry bog Trail behind the mall, Patriot's Place.  I never gave it a thought before, but we must look funny--a troupe of old people traipsing through the woods.

Once we walked through the cranberry bog, and before we went into the woods, I counted my people.  There was one more.  I counted again.  How did we pick up another person?

As we walked, I walked beside this newcomer and found out that she walked alone but was afraid to walk in the woods.  What if she got lost?  So she saw this group and we looked safe (old people) so sneaked in the middle of the group.

She turned out to be a nice lady.

Jealousy

 Today, my writer’s group, Senior Scribblers, had their book release.  We wrote a book with some of our writings.  It was well received.  What surprised me was the petty jealousies that some of our participants displayed.  

I heard comments like, "he read five poems and I only read ONE story."  "I didn't get as much time, as he did, and mine are much better than his."

Do you believe it!

God is Love

 David Torkington, your hope has not been in vain.  The Primacy of Loving has reinforced what I've been doing.  I never could do centering prayer, or the Jesuit imaging yourself in scenes, or the "Ooming".  My favorite prayer is Lectio Divina.  I'm reading The Cloud of the Unknowing, De Sales, Augustine, John of the Cross, Catherine of Siena, and of course the Bible.

I haven't reached that "consubstantial" unity of love that I want but I will persevere.  I want the love of God, that the apostles and the early church fathers and mothers had. 

David Torkington's book, The Primacy of Loving explains that if you want to go deeper into spirituality, if you want to know and feel God's love, you must emulate the apostles and early Christians.  How did they do it?  How did the church's mystics do it?  

This book is a guide to follow Jesus' teachings. We learn to follow the first Christians, not man-made techniques from later centuries.  If the early century Christians could fall in love with Jesus, then if we read their works, we can too.  It takes dedicated, faithful, time.  

Torkington explains mysticism, who to stay away from, and other pitfalls. I learned some new pagan heresies and anti

All it takes is love.  We have to love Jesus and that includes loving others.  Our inner disposition should emanate love. Our prayer lives should involve professing love for God.  This takes persistence for the rest of our lives.  Eventually, it will become a part of our lives and it will be worth it.

Jesus' Love

 Colored sunshine sets

the Monstrance rays afire like

Jesus' love for us.

Dr. Patricia Ellis, O.P.

Grace for Grace

 Grace for grace is an updated version of "eye for an eye," or a "tooth for a tooth." Exodus 21:24  Think of equal measure.  

John the Baptist, in talking about Jesus was saying:

He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.  And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace.  For the law was given through Moses (see first paragraph), grace and truth come through Jesus Christ. John 1:15-17.

In following Christ, our aim is to be like Him.  His behavior becomes ours, in particular His relationship to His Father.  In graced living Christ becomes the doer of our actions. In imitating Jesus, we are filled with grace, and in loving like Jesus, we pass on grace.  We live as Jesus would.

Do Not Worry

 This morning there was a car in front of me that had a bumper sticker with Matt 6:33.  I think.  I wish I had taken a picture of the car, then I would know for sure.  Underneath the scripture reference was a website. 

BTW, Matt 6:33 says " but seek first his king and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you."

This was observed while I was waiting for the traffic light to turn to green.  For once, I wasn't willing the light to change. 

Was God giving me a sign?  

Antonietta Pray for Katie

 To Christians, when someone dies, it is not the end of life.  It is the beginning of a new life--eternal life.   If Jesus' Resurrection doesn't convince you, there are these scripture verses.  

Christians often ask for prayers for this or that, and even for one another.  Presently, I am soliciting prayers for a friend's wife, who is in dire condition in ICU.  Her name is Katie Field. Please pray for Katie Field, her seven children, and husband, Brandon this morning at your worship service. Her condition is dire, she needs a miracle, and your prayers make such a difference.

 In addition to asking for your prayers, Catholics also ask Mary and the saints to join in our prayers.  Remember, Mary and the saints, living in eternal life, are more alive than we are, and will pray too.

The family has also asked that when we pray, we specifically ask for the intercession of Venerable Antoinietta Meo.  Antoinietta died when she was seven and is considered venerable.

Every one dies and in heaven is considered a saint.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: 

 In the communion of saints, “a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things.”

In this wonderful exchange, the holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others. Thus recourse to the communion of saints lets the contrite sinner be more promptly and efficaciously purified of the punishments for sin (CCC1475).

In other words, we pray for those in purgatory and heaven and they pray for us--communion of saints.  But how do we know whether someone is in Purgatory, heaven or hell?  The church has a process to determine without a doubt whether or not someone is definitely in heaven.  This is the canonization process.  

The process to prove sainthood requires a lot of paperwork and investigations.  If miracles have incurred through a saint's intercession, the Vatican investigates.  

Antonietta is interceding for Katie Field.  Everyone is asking for Antonietta's intercession. Hopefully, through God's grace, Katie will be healed and the Vatican will add that miracle to Antonietta's canonization process.  This is why, I ask you to pray for a miracle to heal Katie, through the intercession of Antonietta Meo.

Hunting Season

 One of my favorite authors is Louise Penny.  I've read a few of her mysteries, so much so that I've listed her characters and mapped the village of Three Pines.  I finally decided to start reading her first Gamarche mystery, Still Life.

Since I've read others, it was interesting to see how Inspector Gamarche first came to Three Pines and fell in love with the village.  I also learned the origin of Three Pines grouped together meaning that the village was safe for Loyalists to the English crown.  I think the combination of Quebecois and English is unique and interesting.  If that area of Canada really talks like that, I bet it will develop into their own dialect.

This particular mystery solves the murder of a beloved teacher.  She was killed with an arrow.  There are a lot of red herrings.  Some are better bets than the real killer.  But it's a nice touch that one of the characters needing a little TLC has hope to get it.  The Louis Penny mysteries with Inspector Gamarche do seem to help the hopeless.  He's a fair minded, but tough cop.  He's very observant.

I can see why this mystery continued.  I want to read more.

Murder in the Toyshop

It's funny that a murder occurs in a toyshop.  There's nothing funny about murder.  Edmund Crispin's classic novel, The Moving Toyshop, is a funny murder story.   The location is funny.  The characters are ludicrous.  The dialogue is hilarious.  

This is my first time, EVER, reading a murder mystery that is humorous.  It is purposely written to be funny.  And funny it is.

The story line begins with the poet, Richard Cadogan sweet talking his agent into an advance on his book.  Cadogan takes a holiday by going to his favorite place--Oxford.  He gets off the train in the evening and is tired and hungry.  He needs directions and enters a toyshop. No one is out front, so he wanders out back, even upstairs, where he finds a dead woman.  He is knocked unconscious and wakes to finding himself tied up.  He manages to escape.

From there, he goes to his friend, fellow classmate, and amateur detective, Professor Gervase Fern. They go to the police and bring them to the murder scene.  However, there is no toyshop.  Fen believes Cadogan and the adventure begins.

You won't believe the story from here on.  I won't even attempt to tell you.  There's a ridiculous car that the duo speed around on.  There are farcical characters involved.  It's like keystone cops after Charlie Chaplain.  

This farce is a break from whatever one usually reads.  It's really different and well worthwhile.  

Jesus Flips

 This is an Artificial Intelligence image posted on Mark Shea's page, when someone asked AI for a picture of Jesus flipping over a table. This is the story where Jesus cleansed the temple of money changers in Matthew 21: 12-13. At first, I thought, "I guess we don't have to worry about AI. They can't get it right."

Thinking again, AI eventually would get it right if we asked it explicitly to depict an image for Matt. 21: 12-13. After all, AI does exactly what we tell it to do. So AI didn't get this picture wrong. It gave us what we asked. We were wrong in asking the wrong thing.

We need to do a lot of thinking and thinking again before accepting AI. We should have been specific. Eventually, we people will learn how to control AI.

Inedia

 Someone mentioned Therese Neumann as a stigmatic, this morning.  I never heard of her.  Google told me she was a German lady living in Bavaria during WWII. She had the stigma.  I was looking at her critics.  One of them said she was inedia.  I didn't know what that was.  Google said,  

     inedia is a person who believes that it is possible, through meditation
     to reach a level of consciousness where one can obtain all sustenance
     from the air or sunlight.

That's a criticism?  St. Catherine of Siena only lived on Eucharistic hosts.  So what?  

It turns out that that's all Therese Neumann lived on.  Both St. Catherine and Therese said food made them vomit.  They could only stomach the Eucharist. The following information comes from a magazine called Michael.

Though the war had destroyed a good portion of the town, the people of Konnersreuth had somehow survived the many bombings. They were earnestly praying, entreating Heaven for an end to the war. So, when it happened that the Americans finally did arrive, the entire town came out to cheer and welcome them. This was when Arthur met Therese Neumann, the mystic he had heard so much about. He recognized who she was by the large square nail wounds in the palms of each of her hands. Therese was a rather shy person but very amiable. Art knew some German and was able to make himself understood and she talked with him for some time. He showed her a picture of his family and Therese told him that he should not worry, that he would return home safe to them. She also invited him to come back to visit her.

The article goes on to say that the author visited her and her pastor many times and even witnessed her go through the passion of Christ.  Therese died in 1962 and the church has not declared her a saint.  She is referred to as "a servant of God," the first step towards canonization.

Here's a picture of the inedia Servant of God, Therese Neumann.

Lectio Divina Takes Time

 In today's world, time is what people don't have.  Maybe you have five minutes, here and there, but not a regular half hour.  And that's what you need to do Lectio Divina, a solid commitment of time. You need a regular commitment.  Think of it as piano practice.  You can't get better if you don't practice.  You can't achieve what you want if you practice sporadically.  You won't get where you want doing it half-heartedly.  So it is with Lectio Divina.

A formation of your mind and heart is only achieved after you practice, for a long time.  So I would commit to Lectio Divina until you have the time.  You may have the desire but you need to wait until you have a solid, regular commitment to time.

But don't let the desire wane.  I consider lectio divina a necessary component of a spiritual life. 

Assiduity

 This is my project; I am learning to have assiduity.

Assiduity requires perseverance, making time, and reverence.  This is how one should read scripture.

Why Are You Going on a Pilgrimage?

 My cribbage partner asked me why I was going on a pilgrimage.

Why?

I was dumbfounded.  I probably said some inane thing, but since then I've been wondering what I should have said.

I am going on the Rosary Pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. Certainly, a pilgrimage should be more than just a journey to a place of religious interest.  It shouldn't be like, "Let's go see the Mary Garden."  "Let's go to a concert." 

One's thoughts should be directed towards God.  The journey to the place should be praying to expect special graces at the destination. So, it is a devotional component of our trip.

I'm looking for miracles.  At the basilica, I plan to pray for specific needs for my family, friends, country, and the world.  The journey down to the basilica is offered as part of my prayers. I'll take your intentions with me, too.

Modeling God

 

LECTIO:

Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12

R. (8) The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.

STUDIUM:

David's praises focused on the good things God was doing. We owe everything we have to Him.

MEDITATIO:

Lord, you are like a loving parent.  If we are to follow  you, we must be like you.  

ORATIO:

Help me Lord, to be like You.

CONTEMPLATIO:

The Lord is kind and merciful.

RESOLUTIO:

I'll have to live in a cave to model God's behavior.  My interactions with others leave a lot to be desired.  Let me start with not impulsively speaking.  I must think before I speak and I must pray before I think.

Remember Your Last Days

 

LECTIO:      Sir 27:30—28:7

Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail.
Forgive your neighbor's injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?

STUDIO:

Being a volunteer in prison ministry, this reading is right up my alley. Ben Sira is believed to have written between 200 BC---175 BC . He attempts to give practical advice to natural problems. Those who take vengeance on others will in turn receive the Lord's vengeance.

      Harboring anger and plotting revenge destroy the person.  It festers and kills the soul.  It is better to leave vengeance to the Lord.

MEDITATIO:

It is hard to leave everything to God, especially hurts.  Experience has taught me that nursing resentment only hurts myself.  Still.  It's so hard to forgive.  Time does heal and after many years, it is better to move on.

ORATIO:

Lord, when I've been hurt help me think clearly and remember to come to You. Heal my sores.

CONTEMPLATIO:

Vengeance is the Lord.

RESOLUTIO:

I have to work on not harboring resentments.  I need to pray for this.

Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
remember death and decay, and cease from sin!
Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;
remember the Most High's covenant, and overlook faults.

Sentenced to Die

 One of my "cloistered brothers" said something in chapter, today, that really impressed me.  We were sitting in a circle with our Dominican Sisters and Father Wayne, expressing what our community meant to us.  Boo Boo said that he was sentenced to die in prison.  He was a miserable person and didn't care about anything.

Slowly, he got involved with the Catholic activities in the prison.  He started to look forward to going to Mass.  However, it was when he got involved with Our Lady of Mercy Fraternity, that his attitude was completely changed.  He said he looks forward to living.  He thanks God every day for his life.  He's had so many blessings.

God's Image

 

Yesterday, at a Day of Reflections given by Bethany House Ministries, Sister Judith Moormann, OP, had us draw on this little circle, what we picture God.  It is made into a ring.  Coincidentally, last week, my grandchildren made a poster of what they think, when they think of God.

Adoration Reflections

 

Godhead Here in Hiding Whom I Do Adore by the Lay Dominicans, is a book of reflections to be used during  Eucharistic Adoration.  Adoration is time spend with Jesus.  It is an extension of receiving Jesus in the Eucharist.  Nowadays people are glued to their digital devices.  In Adoration, one sits in silence before a monstrance containing the Eucharist.

Sitting with Jesus, present in the Eucharist, may be the most profoundly meaningful time of our day.

          This book is the Dominican Laity's response to the Holy Father's Apostolic Letter Mane Nobiscum Domine, asking the faithful to make the Eucharist the center of their lives. Also, the United States Council of Catholic Bishops is asking people to participate in a National Eucharistic Revival. Godhead Here in Hiding Whom I Do Adore, is one answer.

            The reflections in this book are perfect for the laity to use during Adoration time.  They are brief tidbits offered to seep into your thoughts during the day, and probably during the week.  Hopefully they will morph into your psyche and attitude to affect a change in your life forever.

From Pity Party to Celebration

 Is it because I'm old?  What do you think?  I went to a friend's funeral yesterday.  Before I left the house to go to the funeral Mass, I took a small package of tissues.  I always cry at funerals, even strangers'.  I often attend Mass and sometimes the Mass is a funeral Mass.

My friend was 96 years old and we were friends for over 20 years.  For some reason, I didn't shed a tear.  In fact, the opposite happened.  I was happy.  My interior disposition was celebratory.  I found myself praying "Hurrah, you made it.  I'll see you soon.  Say hello to our friends."  

I can't wait to see my parents and siblings and friends.  Alleluia!  Praise be to God.

God is good.

Reading Grew Exponetially

 Imagine reading in the first century.  What would you read?  You probably didn't.  You didn't know how to read.  Why would you learn to read, not only was it not necessary for you to earn a living, but you wouldn't have been able to afford it.  

Think how expensive it must have been.  Material to write on, was needed--either animal skins or parchment.  Then make ink.  Someone had to write the book and then that was only one copy, unless others copied it.

Books were so expensive that they had to be chained less someone absconded with it as if it were their personal property.  Hence, it was chained so everyone could use it.

Who could read? What occupations would require it?  Teachers, lawyers, and scribes, etc.  A king or merchant/businessman would hire a scribe to read and write for him. If you are watching the Chosen you will notice that Jesus has Matthew as a scribe.  Could Jesus read?  Actually, theologians and others in related fields argue that very question.

Since books weren't plentiful, those who read them, reread them many times.  I imagine they knew them very well and could recite passages from memory.  

Contrast that with today's books.  How many times have I read a book and half way through it, I realize that I've already read it?  

How blessed we are to have such a plethora of reading materials!

Our Priesthood

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people. 1 Peter 2: 9

Jesus is speaking about all those baptized faithful.  Before, the Israelites were the favored ones, but now the priesthood and its privileges belong to us.  We have become to share a covenant relationship with God.  

One responsibility with the title of priesthood is to evangelize.  We are given the responsibility to announce God goodness and salvation to the world.  Baptism makes every member of the Church a sharer in the priesthood of Christ.

This priesthood of course is not the sacrament of ordination.  It is the priesthood of all believers, which enables every Christian to minister to the spiritual needs of others and to offer ourselves, body and soul, to God.  Who else could do this, but ourselves? Only we can do it.

God's only truly holy things on earth today are His people, those whom He has sovereignly and graciously set apart for Himself through Jesus Christ. The new temple of God and the new priesthood of God are His church, which Peter here refers to figuratively as a holy nation.

Peter gives us a fourfold description of the people of God. His first description, which we discussed in my last thoughts, is that we are a “chosen race.” His second description is that we who believe in Christ are a “royal priesthood.”

The fact that we are a “royal priesthood” is rooted in the priesthood of Christ. Concerning Christ, Zechariah said, “He will be a priest on His throne” (Zechariah 6:13). When we believe in Christ, we are “in Christ” and members of a “royal priesthood.”

In verse 5 of our text, Peter says that we are a “holy priesthood.” Compare Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 20:6.

Many aspects of the priesthood of the believer are interesting. I will highlight just a couple of key points. One is that we have direct access to God. With God, we have immediate and personal access. We learn about this access in Hebrews 10:19-22. Christ is the “great priest over the house of God.” As believers “we have the confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus.” We should, therefore, “draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.”

As far as access to God is concerned, believing Jews and Gentiles stand on common ground (Ephesians 2:17-18). All who believe in Christ have direct access to God. As Paul says, “Through Him [Christ] we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18).

Two, another feature of the priesthood is the offering of “spiritual sacrifices.” As Peter declares, “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5).

Our sacrifices to God include our “sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15).

To summarize, the body of Christ is a royal priesthood. We have direct access to God. We need not go through someone else. We can offer spiritual sacrifices. Let us live up to our privilege!