Noli Simul Flare Sorbereque

At the bottom of by the page of a magazine I was reading was an ad for a book, The Devil Hates Latin by Katharine Galgano.  It sounded interesting so I bought it.  I was immediately hooked because the hero was a Dominican and although the setting was in Italy, there were many references to Boston.  Add to that, one of the main characters is an ex-con.

What more could I want?  How about action?  Thrills?  Romance?  Catholicism?

The Devil Hates Latin has them all.  It's a very good story.  I'd qualify it as an adventure story.  Two families are strangely united by a common interest.  They go through some scary stuff together.  A rogue religious community tries to eliminate the entire families.  That's the story.  But you find yourself rooting for the ordinary people.  The priests, you have to sort out the good ones from the bad ones.  The bad ones have the money and are trying to protect their power.  An exorcist does the trick.
Another interesting observation was the description of modern Italy.  We in the USA are becoming like that. We're a consumer society, good careers are impossible to find, people aren't getting married, people aren't having children.

The exorcist saves the day.

Product details Paperback: 308 pages Publisher: REGINA Magazine LLC; 1 edition (December 29, 2016) Language: English ISBN-10: 0996647902 ISBN-13: 978-0996647908 Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Buy it here.

God Judges Justly

Oo-o-h. I finally get it.  A scripture phrase has been bothering me ever since I read it, Monday.  It is 1Peter 2: 23.

It says "he handed himself over to the one who judges justly."

I was thinking, Pilate judges justly?

Well I finally figured out that the verse is talking about God--Jesus handed Himself over to the Father by His death.

I would have understood immediately if capitalization was used to refer to God.

He handed Himself over to the One Who judges justly.

See?

No question that One is God.

Pride, Humility, and Social Media

Pride, Humility, and Social Media: On a recent trip to Sacramento, from my home base in the LA area, I flew Southwest Airlines. In an idle moment, I reached for the magazine in the seatback pocket and commenced to leaf through it.

The irony of posting this on a blog is not lost on me.

Facial Expressions

There has always been something about this photo that has bothered me.  I think it's the expressions on the girls' faces.  It's not the suspicious unsmiling expressions on the girls, primarily.  It's the fact that the boy's expression is well, expressionless.  Why?

When my son was that age he would have been wearing the same expression as the girls.  He didn't like having his picture taken and would have been grouchy about it.  He was being forced to do something he didn't want to do, which is what the girls expressions tell me.

So the girls seem like normal kids, to me.  It's Francisco.  What was he thinking?

Brotherhood of Hope: What's a Brother?

Brotherhood of Hope: What's a Brother?: What is a brother? Why become a brother? What is the difference between a brother and a priest? Why aren't all brothers priests? These are some of the questions that the Brotherhood of Hope has encountered.

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Have you ever wondered why any man would feel called to this vocation.  Read this article.

Steps Towards Loving Your Enemy

MK artwork

My "cloistered brothers" and I were discussing the Gospel of Matthew 5: 43-46.  Here Jesus is asking us to do something very hard--not impossible, but as close to impossible as one can get (sometimes).

(1)  It's natural to hate those who harm you.  Even a baby will slap at a mosquito.  It's not because he wants to hate the mosquito, but rather he wants to stop the pain.  It's as simple as that.  Someone hurts you, you want to stop that hurt.  The knee-jerk reaction to stopping hurt is to hurt back.
      Once one recognizes this fact, then he can see that he may not even know the person who is hurting him, so how can he hate him?  What he hates is what he is doing.

(2)  Another thing to consider is Jesus' command "to love your enemies," itself.  Think of the different kinds of love: agape, eros.  Also, love is translated as "charity."  So how do you love an enemy.  First, think of love not as agape, certainly not eros, but as St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica II-II, 26 teaches us, "To love in charity is benevolence: to will the good to a person or God...."
     Hence, don't harm the person you hate.  Think "Do unto others as you want them to do unto you."  So push yourself to do something good to that person.  Some acts of charity my "cloistered brothers" did for their enemies: nursed, made a meal and fed the person, gave them something they wanted, etc.
     It seems that these acts of charity softened the enemies' stance.  It was a visible difference.

(3)  Be open and receptive to your enemies' gestures toward friendliness.  Then talk.  Talk again.  Talk, some more.  Communication should bring understanding.  Understanding will dissolve the hate and soon you will find forgiveness.

That's the method we came up with.

God Raised Jesus

Lectio

Third Sunday of Easter
Lectionary: 46

Reading 1ACTS 2:14, 22-33

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
"You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
You who are Israelites, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:
I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope, 
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.
"My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father
and poured him forth, as you see and hear."

Studium

Acts is written by Luke who was not an eyewitness to the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus.  He is a convert and writing from the oral tradition handed down by the Apostles.  This is why he assures the crowd that they are hearing the Truth, passed down from Peter and the Apostles.  To reassure the people even more, Luke shows that Jesus fulfills David's prophecy.

Meditatio

We believe and we, like Luke, weren't there with Jesus.  We have scriptures, traditions, and magisterium to aid our faith.  We trust in Jesus.

Oratio

O my God, I believe You are always there.  I believe You sent Your Son, Jesus, to make up for Adam and Eve's sin. I believe Your inspired Word.  I also believe in the Holy Catholic Church, which Jesus founded.  This is my faith.

Contemplatio

Thank you, Jesus, for loving me.