Sophia update - waiting...

This morning's update:

Good morning,

Sorry I didn’t send anything yesterday, there hasn’t been much change but I didn’t want to let another day go without sending you a few lines. After the surgery Sophia has remained pretty sleepy and when she wakes up she’s quite agitated. She pulled the tubes from her arm (they had to put them on her foot) and last night she pulled her feeding tube ! so they had to giver her morphine to calm her down and put the tube back. She developed a rash from one of the medications. They thought it was from the anti-seizure one so they changed that and today the rash is better. Today they are going to do another CAT scan. She remains in PICU. They expect her to continue to be sleepy today because of the morphine, but hopefully after this, she’ll start waking up, and moving forward ! Let’s pray that the CAT scan will come back normal, and that she’s on her way to showing improvement. Mom and dad really need to see a sign that things are getting better !. Thank you all for your continuous prayers, love and support. God bless each and everyone of you, Daniela

Lent with Lacordaire

Another fine post of Lacordare at RORATE CÆLI

the world contradicts the Doctrines, the Spirit, and the Church of Jesus Christ

Dicit illis Iesus: Numquam legistis in Scripturis: Lapidem quem reprobaverunt ædificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli: a Domino factum est istud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris? (From the Gospel for the Friday in the Second Week of Lent, Matthew xxi, 42: Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the cornerstone, by the Lord this has been done; and it is wonderful in our eyes"?)

I ask you, princes of nations, you who command by intelligence, wealth, or power; I ask you to make a man humble and chaste, a penitent, a soul who judges his pride and his senses, who despises himself, who hates himself, who struggles against himself, and either as the proof or as the means of his conversion, humbly avows the errors of his life. I ask but this from you: can you accomplish this? Have you ever done so?

Ah, if a king, radiant in the majesty of the throne, were to call you into his cabinet, and press you to confess your faults at his feet, you would say to him: Sire, I would rather confess them to the man who makes shoes for my feet! If the most famous philosopher of his age were to use all his eloquence to persuade you to kneel and confess your sins to him, you would not even deign to turn away from laughing in his face. Pardon these expressions, ... they would be ill-placed on other occasions; here, they are just and grave.

And, yet, what kings, philosophers, and nations are unable to obtain, a poor priest, a man unknown, the most obscure among men, accomplishes daily in the name of Jesus Christ. He sees souls touched by their misery, coming to seek him who does not know them, and tell Him in all sincerity the degradation of their passions. It is the door by which men enter into Jesus Christ, by which they rest in Him, by which the Church herself enters; for the Church is but the world penitent; and that single word reveals to you the whole miracle of her foundation and perpetuity, as it will also explain to you the force of active and passive contradiction which is in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ contradicts all doctrines, because His doctrine is holy and the world is corrupt; He contradicts every spirit, because His Spirit is holy and the world is corrupt; He contradicts all nations, because His Church is holy and the world is corrupt; and, for the same reason, the world contradicts the doctrines, the Spirit, and the Church of Jesus Christ.

It was then with justice (in a certain sense) that, in the first proceedings directed against Christians, by the orders of Nero, they were convicted, according to Tacitus, of "hatred against the human race". They hated, in fact, all that the world esteemed; they pursued all its ideas and all its affections, in order to destroy them utterly; and although they did this out of love for the world, the world was not bound to understand and thank them for it.


Even charity, so new as it was, clothed itself in hostile colours, and the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross, that masterpiece of love, appeared rather like an insult than devoutness.


All [of this] was contradiction, because all [of it] was God; and in order to prove that nothing of this was of man, Jesus Christ was forever to be recognized by this sign, as it was said of Him at the moment of His first appearing among men: "This Child is set up as a sign of contradiction." And He Himself, recalling the prophecies, said to His enemies: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is wonderful in our eyes." The prophecy is still accomplished daily: princes, nations, savants, sages, the experts, the builders, all reject the stone; they declare it to be unfit or worn out by time; they will accept it no longer; and yet it still is "the cornerstone, and it is wonderful in our eyes."


Henri-Dominique Lacordaire
Conférences de Notre-Dame de Paris (1846)

Whole series of Lacordaire posts at RORATE CÆLI is here

Holy Father, Holy Grail

Those of you who attended the 2006 Mary Magdalene retreat ought to recognize what the Holy Father is looking at so intently.




Here's a close up of the Grail of the Last Supper.




Hat tip to THE ROVING MEDIEVALIST - check out his post Quotes from St. Thomas Aquinas, it will do your soul good.

Judgmentalism

Bishop Robert Vasa, Diocese of Baker

ENTRUSTED WITH SACRED DUTIES

JUDGMENTALISM:

46. As I mentioned above still others have expressed concern that my insistence upon an affirmation of faith is a form of ‘judgmentalism’. Some have indicated to me that the task I have undertaken of trying to "oversee" ministry, liturgy and ministers of the Diocese is not "my job". This perspective is most interesting particularly since the very title Bishop means precisely that, "overseer". The reality is that the Bishop has many tasks but, "Among the principal tasks of Bishops the preaching of the Gospel is pre-eminent." (Veritatis Splendor, 114) I recognize that this preaching of the Gospel is not limited to an occasional Sunday sermon but rather extends to a vigilance over all those who teach in the name of the Church, either explicitly or implicitly. In an early section of the Encyclical the Holy Father made it clear that Bishops share his responsibility
to teach:

47. I address myself to you, Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate, who share with me the responsibility of safeguarding "sound teaching" (2 Tim 4:3), with the intention of clearly setting forth certain aspects of doctrine which are of crucial importance in facing what is certainly a genuine crisis, since the difficulties which it engenders have most serious implications for the moral life of the faithful and for communion in the Church, as well as for a just and fraternal social life. (Veritatis Splendor, 5)

48. At the same time he pointed out that this duty to teach is particularly important relative to those things which are exposed to error, ambiguity or neglect. If it appears that I have focused too exclusively on matters related to proper sexual conduct, it is, in part, because teaching about the morality surrounding this area of human living is most prone to neglect and misinterpretation. It is particularly in regard to this area that the clear and beautiful teachings of the Catholic Church need to be heard and understood. The Holy Father made it very evident that the duty of presenting the message of the Church falls to the Bishops to whom the Encyclical is directed:


49. In addressing this Encyclical to you, my Brother Bishops, it is my intention to state the principles necessary for discerning what is contrary to "sound doctrine", drawing attention to those elements of the Church's moral teaching which today appear particularly exposed to error, ambiguity or neglect. (Veritatis Splendor, 30)

50. Later the Holy Father, recalling the statements of the Second Vatican Council, made this duty of teaching, which is entrusted to Bishops, even more explicit as noted in the following three paragraphs from the Encyclical:

51. As the Second Vatican Council reminds us, responsibility for the faith and the life of faith of the People of God is particularly incumbent upon the Church's Pastors: "Among the principal tasks of Bishops the preaching of the Gospel is pre-eminent. For the Bishops are the heralds of the faith who bring new disciples to Christ. They are authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach to the people entrusted to them the faith to be believed and put into practice; they illustrate this faith in the light of the Holy Spirit, drawing out of the treasury of Revelation things old and new (Mt 13:52); they make it bear fruit and they vigilantly ward off errors that are threatening their flock (2 Tim 4:1-4)".

52. It is our common duty, and even before that our common grace, as Pastors and Bishops of the Church, to teach the faithful the things which lead them to God, just as the Lord Jesus did with the young man in the Gospel. Replying to the question: "What good must I do to have eternal life?", Jesus referred the young man to God, the Lord of creation and of the Covenant. He reminded him of the moral commandments already revealed in the Old Testament and he indicated their spirit and deepest meaning by inviting the young man to follow him in poverty, humility and love: "Come, follow me!". The truth of this teaching was sealed on the Cross in the Blood of Christ: in the Holy Spirit, it has become the new law of the Church and of every Christian.

53. This "answer" to the question about morality has been entrusted by Jesus Christ in a particular way to us, the Pastors of the Church; we have been called to make it the object of our preaching, in the fulfillment of our munus propheticum (Office of Preaching or Teaching). At the same time, our responsibility as Pastors with regard to Christian moral teaching must also be exercised as part of the munus sacerdotale (Office of Sanctifying): this happens when we dispense to the faithful the gifts of grace and sanctification as an effective means for obeying God's holy law, and when with our constant and confident prayers we support believers in their efforts to be faithful to the demands of the faith and to live in accordance with the Gospel (cf. Col 1:9-12). Especially today, Christian moral teaching must be one of the chief areas in which we exercise our pastoral vigilance, in carrying out our munus regale (Office of Governing). (Veritatis Splendor, 114)

The document, ENTRUSTED WITH SACRED DUTIES, is Bishop Vasa's document implementing Giving Testimony to the Truth.

From Mike Lee in Gaming, Austria:

Zach plays Macbeth, and



and Zeke is doing his best to turn proud papa into fawning jelly. Perhaps this is one way we can come close to understanding what God meant when He told Paul "My power is made perfect in weakness."

Mike writes:

I am on spring break this next week. I am ready for a bit of a breather. It has been a crazy semester between the difficulty of understanding Aristotle and having a new baby in the house. I was able to not even miss a single class after the baby was born. It was exhausting but necessary. In the seminar style of teaching, the majority of the learning happens outside of the class when reading the classical texts. The texts are discussed and broken down during the class. One simply cannot afford to miss a single class. This semester I will finish up reading the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church; Prior Analytics, Posterior Analytics, The Topics, Metaphysics, and Nicomachean Ethics all by Aristotle; Selections from the Commentary on the Metaphysics and Expositio Libri Posteriorum by St. Thomas Aquinas; the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy); and a bunch of Church history. Whew….it gives the brain a mighty workout. It is such a blessing!!

Mike and Deb still need your help. see the post Idaho Hicks in Austria for an opportunity for a spot of Lenten almsgiving.

When words fail

I've seen this picture on a couple of sites, it speaks with its own remarkable eloquence.



But this picture needs the words.



Final Salute
By Jim Sheeler, Rocky Mountain News
November 9, 2005

Compassion is not compromise; compromise is not compassion

Bishop Robert Vasa, Diocese of Baker

ENTRUSTED WITH SACRED DUTIES

8. Compromise relative to the demands of the Gospel and the clear teachings of the Church is not easy to accommodate. I recognize that I have a serious obligation before God to teach the truths of the Catholic Church and I am not, as far as I can understand, authorized by the Lord to compromise or change His word or the teachings of His Church. This ecclesial inability and personal unwillingness to compromise the Lord’s teachings does not preclude compassion and understanding in regard to those who see the truth but experience serious weakness in living up to it. In such cases there is a humble and ardent recognition of weakness and sinfulness and a sincere striving to advance and grow in holiness and in faithfulness to the teachings of the Church. Here one recognizes the need for confession and the need for God’s healing grace. Here one prays, not that the Church will change because of a personal conviction that She is wrong, but rather that our hearts be changed and converted more fully to the Lord who has given us this Church. Thus, the making of a ‘personal affirmation’ does not mean that one is free from all sin relative to the things affirmed but only that one recognizes the authenticity of the teaching of the Church, however personally challenging it may be, and the necessity of striving to live according to those teachings. Compassion is not compromise; compromise is not compassion.

The document, ENTRUSTED WITH SACRED DUTIES, is Bishop Vasa's document implementing Giving Testimony to the Truth.

The blog, Lair of the Catholic Cavemen, has this: The Car Crash of Blogs. You Don't Want To, But You Just Can't Help But Look

Somehow, that line sort of describes the LA wRECk, and since it's Lent, I thought I'd post excerpts from ENTRUSTED WITH SACRED DUTIES as a spiritual malox moment...


From the conclusion of the Dominican Litany:

PRAYER FOR THE SPIRITUAL WELFARE AND SUCCESS OF THE LOCAL BISHOP

Lord Jesus Christ, You instituted Your Church to be One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, and founded it upon the Apostles and their successors, the bishops, priests and deacons, who trace their ordinations back to the Apostles. Be mindful of Your promise that the gates of hell, with its double curse of sin and ignorance, would not prevail against Your Church, built upon the head of the Apostolic College, Peter and his successors. Deign now to send Your Holy Spirit to guide our Holy Father, Benedict XVI, in his appointment of bishops in our beloved United States of America, laboring under vice and error. Send the Paraclete especially to our bishop of the Diocese of [n.], the Most Rev. [n.], in such wise that he may continually grow in his love of the true faith, in his ability to communicate it, and in his zeal to provide well for its growth in our midst. Supported by the prayers of all the Angels and Saints whom we have just invoked, we offer this plea most earnestly to You, Lord Jesus, Who live and reign forever and ever.
R/ Amen.

Update: Sophia's second surgery yesterday

This is the update on yesterday's second surgery.

Hello everyone,

Thank you for all your prayers!! Our loving God was with Sophia as always, guiding Dr. Cherny on every step and this procedure was over without complications. As you already know, Dr. Cherny stopped the surgery because he couldn’t find the “landmarks” that he was expecting to see with the scope. It was scary for a while because we were confused at why he didn’t see what he was supposed to see, and he had also mentioned there was a little bleeding obscuring the view. So they took Sophia to PICU and did a CAT scan, Dr. Cherny studied the results and at 5:45 PM Sophia was back in the operating room. Everything went well after that. The blockage was something like scar tissue, which he cut and then left a tube (that will stay for about one year), to avoid that to close again. Sophia was stable, and when we saw her back in PICU she had opened her eyes. Between the anesthesia, the morphine, and all other medications, she’ll probably stay sleepy for a while. Dr. Cherny explained that now he’ll be watching closely to see if the brain starts absorbing the fluids. We need to pray that it will. One of the areas were a lot of that absorption takes place is right by the artery that has the blood clots, and somehow it may affect that process (don’t ask me why!). Besides the brain being able to absorb fluids, the other issue still “pending” is the one with the blood clots. Hopefully everything will be okay and they’ll be able to start the blood thinner medication back by Friday night. I hope my 10 year old Karina is right: this morning she said “ This is IT. This is going to be the last surgery, they’ll fix what’s wrong, and from now on Sophia will start getting better!” :) Let’s pray that she is right :) !
God blessings to all of you,
Daniela

Thanks to all for your prayers!

Sophia - out of surgery, perhaps back for a second today

This just in:

Family LOFT group:
Please keep Sophia in your prayers all day today, as Dr. Cherney (sp?) was not able to complete the surgery this morning. He said that he wanted to be safe, so he did not proceed after a certain point because he couldn't clearly see the "landmarks" to get to the ventricle. This is obviously very hard for Scott, Veronica, Matias (and Daniela, Veronica's sister), along with the rest of the family. Sophia is in a CAT scan now (or soon). Dr. Cherney will evaluate the results, and then most likely proceed with another surgery later today (when the OR has another opening). Thank you everyone for your constant prayers on their behalf. We will update you as soon as we hear and know any more.
Love,

Howard & Carris

Repent and Believe in the Gospel

This post is a complete copy of a post by Fr. Jay Scott Newman of St. Mary's Catholic Church in South Carolina, which is found here:

Over at Catholic World News, the peerless commentator Diogenes (or Uncle Di to his friends) offers occasional observations in a column called “Off the Record.” In his most recent post, Uncle Di does a brilliant riff on C.S. Lewis to explain the spiritual poison on tap from priests who preach no need for conversion. Because his commentary is so trenchant and in need of a very wide readership, I have posted below the entirety of Diogenes’ essay on “Self-Indulgence and Spiritual Harm”, and I commend a regular reading of his wisdom to anyone who wants to understand the chaos in the Church today.

Self-Indulgence and Spiritual Harm
by Diogenes

Salt Lake City's Monsignor Robert Bussen has made it a project to address the particular affective needs of Monsignor Robert Bussen the marginalized:

Father Bob, as everyone calls him, knew the Catholic Church had little credibility with gays, given its opposition to same-sex marriage and the tendency of some to blame the priest sex-abuse scandals on homosexuality.
Sure, Bob. And by the same reasoning, I'm sure you'll agree, the Church has little "credibility" with kleptomaniacs and necrophiles, given her opposition to their indulgences. So you'll be restoring trust by offering an Unsold-or-Colder Liturgy, am I right?

He designed a special monthly Mass for gays, lesbians and their families at St. Mary of the Assumption in hopes of making them feel welcome. ... "It was a tremendously affirming experience," Bussen said this week. "The Mass was more symbolic than anything, reaching out to families who love their church and their children and don't want to have to choose. But [the church] has to earn their respect. They will not tolerate any more rhetoric that attacks their children."

Great. Bussen might have used his theological training and pastoral enthusiasm to help fragile persons grasp the Church's hard sayings. Instead, he joins the mob that insists it's the teaching that's to blame, whence he becomes just one more in the long clerical line of damaged pansies, who hide behind the Church yet at the same time are out to do her down. Like my little lord in the velvet collar who clings to nanny's hand when the playground bullies are around -- knowing her frown will keep them at bay -- they find this same sternness of hers oppressive once the danger is past and they have in mind mischief of their own.

Among the tactics of the wounded wounders, especially repellent is the cat-and-mouse game they play with the faithful, trading on their piety, compassion, and good will in order to dispose them to tolerance toward "the marginalized," while keeping them too confused to reprove their pastors for their failure (in the language of Canon 285) "to shun completely everything that is unbecoming to their state." The innocent and ingenuous laity -- hearing their natural revulsion at unnatural appetites condemned as bigotry -- are made to feel guilty of a defect of charity.

The same article coyly identifies Bussen with a gay priest blogger who waged a propaganda campaign by foregrounding selective self-pity:

"My bishop gave me the supportive counsel," he writes. "I was right in claiming, embracing and cherishing this dimension of my life. ... This holy fire is sacred, not secret. It must not be trashed by anyone."
Wrong. The bishop should have taught (from Zechariah 13:9) that God's refining fire burns away impurity. He did his priest a double disservice by failing to urge repentance and by inviting him to regard his disordered appetites as flames of holiness.

Bumptious gay priests richly deserve to get hammered. But hammering isn't the real point. Other goods are at stake. Readers of C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce will remember the myth in which the dreamer encounters various souls at the point of choosing heaven or hell: choosing, that is, to abide with their besetting sin -- and so be damned -- or to throw it off by accepting the offer of salvation. One of the figures is an oily, dark man "parasitized" by a lizard-like creature perched on his shoulder and continually whispering into his ear. After much pathetic reluctance, the man permits his parasite to be ripped away from him and killed, whereupon the man -- almost killed himself by the pain -- stands erect and whole; and the slain lizard (in one of Lewis's better imaginative thrusts) comes back from death to life, no longer as a reptile but as a great stallion, which the man mounts and controls with perfect mastery.

Lewis's lizard is an allegory of any high-energy habitual sin -- i.e., any besetting lust, whether the lust be lust for power, or acclaim, or the satisfactions of the flesh. It's not a question of dividing "good" lizards from bad; any sin that a man ultimately refuses to do without will damn him. And any man, when he is in the grip of his pet obsession, convinces himself that he can't survive apart from it: his parasitism tries to be accepted as symbiosis, or even to claim identity with the host organism ("I am who I am"). Yet, in this scheme, every parasite is a perversion of a desire originally wholesome. When the perversion is put to death -- mortified, in traditional language -- the underlying wholesome desire becomes free to take on its proper life, sub-ordinated to the rationally governed human will. The bloodsucking reptile becomes an obedient warhorse.

It stands to reason that the history of the saints includes many who had been tormented by the "pet lizard" of homoerotic attractions. Instead of welcoming and coddling the parasite, however, the saints put it to death, and devoted the reborn energy for the good of souls -- theirs and others. We can't know how many cantatas, orphanages, cathedrals, theological masterpieces (as well as humbler spiritual and corporal works of mercy) owe their origin to fierce, but mortified, appetites. And there are many Catholics today vexed by the same obsession who have chosen to struggle against it -- and who succeed in their struggle. They face all the hardships their predecessors faced, in addition to one hardship no predecessor encountered: the huge contrary current of gay propaganda that not only urges but praises surrender to one's sexual demons. For chaste homosexuals fighting against these odds, the damage done by those Catholic clergy who publicly embrace their pet reptiles -- who throw open the gates to the enemy from inside the fortress -- must be not only disheartening but cruel. Sybarites are hardened in their sins. The rest of the Church is deprived of the spiritual bounty that attends regenerate life. Everyone loses.

It's dismaying, if not surprising, that Bussen's present superior offers his support exactly where it doesn't belong. "He's not doing anything unorthodox," interim diocesan administrator Msgr. Terrence Fitzgerald is quoted as saying. "Our bottom line is to care for the people, and that's what he's doing." Bussen's not caring for the people, Monsignor, he's taking care of himself. Indulgence is the enemy of charity.

Anita needs your prayers too.

This from RORATE CÆLI

This is Anita, daughter of Claudio Vázquez, of Radio Cristiandad in Argentina, and his wife Soledad.She is 15 months old, and four tumors have been found at the base of her brain, one of which may severely affect the medulla oblongata. They ask for everyone's prayers and for Masses.

Sophia - Surgery this morning

This was sent last night, but my ISP didn't deliver it till this morning:

Hello everyone,
Tomorrow Sophia is having surgery at 7:00 AM. They are going to go in with a scope to see what’s blocking the channel that connects two of the ventricles. They are not sure what it is, some of the possibilities: scar tissue or debris from the prior surgery. This blockage is preventing the fluids to travel the brain as they should and therefore the fluids don’t get absorbed by the body as they should. This explains why they had to put the drain tube back and the amount of fluids that is coming out that way. The surgery is less complicated than the ones Sophia already had, so hopefully it will be quite shorter. One of the worries, however, is the fact that they had to stop the blood thinning medication 24 hours prior to the surgery and not give it back to her until 40 hours after surgery to diminish the possibility of bleeding. As you probably remember, this blood thinning medication is helping the blood circulation in the brain, to deal with the blood clots that are still there. Let’s pray that the blood clot problem won’t get worse because of that. Today Sophia was
quite sleepy because of the medication they gave her before the MRI. They did manage to give her breakfast and make her walk in the morning. Dr. Cherny was going to stop by at 8:30 PM to discuss more details about tomorrow’s surgery
and to go over the MRI. Scott talked to Dr. Johans today, who reaffirmed that this surgery was simple, compared to the others. Let’s pray that everything will go smoothly and that Sophia will truly turn the corner after this J !! God bless each and everyone of you, Daniela

Great Firewall of China

After learning what a variety of sites were not reported banned by the Great Firewall of China site, I became a bit suspicious that what this really was, was a spam gathering site, sucking in the unwary, in the same way those "please forward this urgent message..." emails work (the last one of those I received was decrying that the new $1 presidential coins don't have "In God we Trust" - which they do).

So I did a bit of google searching and, yes, there is a firewall to save the Chinese people from visiting sites which the PRC disapproves of. There is a huge counter effort out there trying to break it, interesting reading if you google it!

At the level of local network security, the world depends first on Cisco firewall products, a company with an interesting history, but a company that is currently owned in Israel. Hence the following picture of the Golden Gate in the wall of Jerusalem - Firewalls are an old business in the Holy Land! What makes this picture interesting is that after the Moslems took Jerusalem, they bricked up the Golden Gate and built a cemetery in front of it. Why? This is the gate that the old testament says that God will re-enter Jerusalem through at the end of the ages. I suppose if you have a conception of God as possessing a physical body, bricking up a gate will, in your mind, keep the end of the world from coming...



Now I can certainly see how the PRC would be afraid that the internet would be the path of entry of ideas that would be the end of the(ir) world; but somehow, bricking up the portal, so to speak, seems, well... you know.

Lenten treasure

To assist you in your Lenten journey.
God bless,
Mark

PEACE!

Yesterday in the Office of Reading, from the Catechetical Instruction of St. John Chrysostom, this bit of scripture was quoted:

Moses was more gentle than all who dwelt on the earth

Ok, this is the same guy that killed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite. I take this as a confirmation that the meekness of Christ that expresses itself in gentleness (I am meek and gentle of heart) is not incompatible with justice.

so today, to continue on this thread, there is a marvelous post from Father Zuhlsdorf (WHAT DOES THE PRAYER REALLY SAY?) {]:¬)

He posts a quote from St. John Chrysostom, in his post titled "Smite him on the face"

Ibid. 1,32: But since our discourse has now turned to the subject of blasphemy, I desire to ask one favor of you all, [Anything for you, Your Excellency…] in return for this my address, and speaking with you; which is, that you will correct on my behalf the blasphemers of this city [i.e., blaspheming against God by saying that wine is evil.]. And should you hear any one in the public thoroughfare, or in the midst of the forum, blaspheming God; go up to him and rebuke him; and should it be necessary to inflict blows, spare not to do so. Smite him on the face; strike his mouth; sanctify your hand with the blow, and if any should accuse you, and drag you to the place of justice, follow them thither; and when the judge on the bench calls you to account, say boldly that the man blasphemed the King of angels! For if it be necessary to punish those who blaspheme an earthly king, much more so those who insult God. It is a common crime, a public injury; and it is lawful for every one who is willing, to bring forward an accusation. Let the Jews and Greeks learn, that the Christians are the saviours of the city; [HURRAY! And let this extend to the liturgy too, "SAVE THE LITURGY, SAVE THE WORLD"] that they are its guardians, its patrons, and its teachers. Let the dissolute and the perverse also learn this; that they must fear the servants of God too; that if at any time they are inclined to utter such a thing, they may look round every way at each other, and tremble even at their own shadows, anxious lest perchance a Christian, having heard what they said, should spring upon them and sharply chastise them.

CONCLUSIONS: If anyone tries to give you bad wine or, worse, no wine, or says anything bad about the wine you have (or don’t have) then punch him in the face right away! Moreover, make sure that Father always has very good wine at hand, so that he can give greater glory to God and have the wherewithal to serve the flock properly.

Interesting! Thank you, Fr. Z!

Guess what I get for my birthday from the Pope!

From RORATE CÆLI

This morning's Bollettino gives notice of a press conference that will present the long waited -- for some -- Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Sacramentum Caritatis": March 13th, 2007.

thanks, Papa!

Sophia: A third surgery may be necessary

This update came very early this morning:

Today it was a tough day, with the news of a new complication. This morning they did a CAT scan, following up with the blood clot problem, making sure there wasn’t a hemorrhage, etc. There weren’t any hemorrhages, but there was something new. This is what I learned this afternoon. The brain has cerebrospinal fluid contained in a system of fluid-filled cavities (ventricles), that are connected by “channels”. Two of the ventricles are supposed to be the same size, but before the surgery, and because of the tumor, one of these ventricles in Sophia’s brain was bigger than the other. After the tumor was removed, the ventricles got back to being the same size. On today’s CAT scan they discovered that one ventricle was back to being bigger than the other, and they found a blockage in one of those channels, which is causing the fluid not to flow properly. At this point they are not sure what the blockage might be, it could be tissue. So, they are talking about the need of performing another surgery to remove that blockage!. They would have to cut the skull again, this time about the size of a quarter, to put a tube with a scope to check the blockage and remove it. As you can imagine, this was devastating to hear. As Veronica was saying, we are not out of a problem when another complication arises, and it’s so hard to stay positive sometimes. Another MRI will be done tomorrow or Wednesday and we’ll have more information after that. Sophia finally slept better today. This evening she had dinner
and went for a little walk to see the fish tank. It was wonderful to see her doing that, and it’s always a blessing to see her smile. She is still restless and moans while asleep, but she did sleep more peacefully than she had done since the surgery. Other than that, the rest is the same, the blood clot is still there, they are still trying to figure out and balance the right medications, they work on her physical therapy and we need to wait …

Please continue with the flow of prayers. It’s getting harder and harder for everyone as time goes by, the progress seems so slow and the complications keep coming. I ended up with my mother in the emergency room last night until 1:30AM. The stress caught up with her and her heart problems, but thankfully she’s okay now, with just more medication. As always, please let me thank you from the whole family for all your love and support. Thank you to everyone that is working so hard to make the life of my sister and brother in law a little easier. Last night they were
overwhelmed by your generosity when they found all those packages and groceries at home. And to all of you that pray so hard for Sophia and the family: thank you!!!!. It would have been unbearable to go thru this without all of you, and I know that I can say that for Veronica and Scott because we have discussed it so many times. I also know that I couldn’t have stayed the “cheerleader” for long if it wasn’t for all your prayers and support. I will let you know as soon as they do the MRI and we learn more about the next step. God bless you all, Daniela

Wacky? Kooky?

For reasons that remain obscure, Lair of the Catholic Cavemen thinks we are wacky and kooky.

wonder how he got that idea?

---

OK, I fret too much...

It didn't take too long to convert to the new Blogger template, and it didn't seem to break too much!

It's more or less done, I will finish the details later.

Overdue Maintenance

I converted to the new blogger, but have not yet converted to the new template, which is how to get support for the new "label" feature. I did my own hack to sort of use labels, but it doesn't get to the older ones, only as many as the post count per page. So... Do I want to do this? NO! Am I going to? Hey, I program Microsoft, change for the sake of change.

You have no doubt heard the old saw, "The only thing that never changes is change"

Well, think about it! WHO does that deny?

Do you know that St. Augustine said that Satan, the prince of the world, is the author of constant change. When we grow tired of constant change, we turn to the one who is constant and unchanging, and we find the church, which, like Her Divine Spouse, does not change. (OK, so S. Augustine was pre VII. I'm sure he'd agree with Pope Benedict XVIs Hermaneutic of continuity.)



sometimes I think the prince of this world is also behind this:

Maybe this is what the swan-dive Jesus ressurifix is all about...

The Great Global Warming Swindle

On British TV:

Channel 4 Thursday 8 March at 9pm

In a polemical and thought-provoking documentary, film-maker Martin Durkin argues that the theory of man-made global warming has become such a powerful political force that other explanations for climate change are not being properly aired.

Read rest of article here
watch trailer here

hat tip to dad29

Stations of the Cross

OFFICE FOR THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF

WAY OF THE CROSS
AT THE COLOSSEUM

GOOD FRIDAY 2005

MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS
BY CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER



hat tip to Simon-Peter

Sophia update!

Sophia is out of PICU and back in the regular pediatrics area. The blood clot is there, and as I have mentioned before, it may take months for it to go away, so as long as everything else continues to improve she’ll remain in blood thinning medication, even after going home. When you look at her, she looks better, because she’s not swollen (she has the drain tube still). But she’s asleep a lot, and alert off and on. One good thing is that she’s eating now. Veronica and Scott asked for the feeding tube to be removed, because she was feeling miserable with it and didn’t want to eat, so mom and dad knew best J and now she’s eating on her own. The last couple of days she’s been “complaining” a lot. We don’t think she’s hurting, but she’s not happy. Dr. Cherny explained that after a prolonged stay at the hospital, and not being able to have a normal sleep pattern this restlessness, and irritability may happen. So now they are trying to help her sleep better, by turning lights off, turning off phones and even giving her a little Benadryl. It hasn’t helped quite yet, hopefully they’ll find a way for her to start sleeping better so that her brain and body can get better rest, so necessary for her recovery. There are still several things that need to improve before they even start talking about “going home”. They are still trying to find the right balance of medications for her kidney, control her fever, etc. She still needs to get stronger, walk, be more alert, feed herself. So we are just waiting, one day at a time. And here’s a fun story … As they were giving her the first bite of her breakfast one day, she motioned with her hand to wait, put her hands together in prayer and said grace J. Please continue to pray for Sophia’s recovery, and for Veronica, Scott and Matias. God bless you all, Daniela

Sin disfigures, grace transfigures.

Jesus teaches us that suffering is the necessary path to glory:

Divine Intimacy, Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene O.C.D.
#105 The Transfiguration

“Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so to enter into His glory?” (Lk 24:26). What was disfigured by sin cannot regain its original supernatural beauty except by way of purifying suffering.

God does not console us for our entertainment but rather for our encouragement, for our strengthening, for the increase of our generosity in suffering for love of Him.

The vision disappeared; the Apostles raised their eyes and saw nothing “nisi solum Jesum,” save Jesus alone, and with “Jesus alone” they came down from the mountain.

The time has come to repeat, “Jesus alone,” to come down from Thabor with Him, and to follow Him with the Apostles even to Calvary”

Lent with Lacordaire

Another fine post of Lacordare at RORATE CÆLI

Catholic doctrine cannot speak "to man only of man"

Assumpsit Iesus Petrum, et Iacobum, et Ioannem fratrem eius, et duxit illos in montem excelsum seorsum: et transfiguratus est ante eos. Et resplenduit facies eius sicut sol: vestimenta autem eius facta sunt alba sicut nix. (From the Gospel for Ember Saturday in Lent and for the Second Sunday in Lent, Matthew xvii, 1-2: "Jesus took Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: and He was transfigured before them. And His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became white as snow.")



It is easy for me... to show that Catholic doctrine enjoys a superhuman moral efficacy, even as a consequence of the interaction which it keeps between man and God. ... Now, in virtue of what does Catholic doctrine operate this superhuman transformation in the soul? Is it directly? Is it simply because it says to us, "Be humble, be chaste, be apostles, be brethren"?

Ah..., but everyone says this to us more or less earnestly: there is not a man steeped in pride who has not invoked the humility of others; not a man drowned in sensuality who was not invoked the purity of his victims; not a man who has not invoked apostleship to propagate his ideas, and fraternity to establish his empire! But the ear of man remains closed to those invitations of selfishness, or to those dreams of reason; it listens to them without hearing; it hears, without obeying.

Catholic doctrine would have succeeded no better, if it had spoken to man only of man; if it had proposed to him, as the spring of its action, only his interest, his duty even, and his dignity. To render man humble, chaste, apostle, brother, it has taken its basis outside of him: it has placed it in God.

It is in the name of God, by the power of the relationship which it has created between God and ourselves, by the efficacy of its dogmas, of its worship, and of its sacraments, that it changes within us that corpse which rebels against virtue; that it reanimates it, resuscitates it, purifies it, transforms it, clothes it with the glory of Tabor, and having thus armed it from head to toe, sends it forth into the distress of the world, as a new man, still feeble by nature, but strengthened by God, towards Whom his unceasing aspiration ascends.

It is thus ... that the miracle of our transfiguration is accomplished in Catholic doctrine: humility, chastity, charity, and all the interior elevations which result from these are but effects of a higher virtue giving the movement to all the rest. Without religion, without the interaction of soul and God, the whole Christian edifice crumbles -- consequently, that interaction, which is the keystone of the arch, is efficacious in a superhuman manner, since it bears man above humanity.

...humility, chastity, the charity of apostleship and of fraternity, obedience, penitence, voluntary poverty...are but branches of a single stream. ... There is ... a stream into which merge all those scattered virtues which I have named: and that stream is sanctity.

Henri-Dominique Lacordaire
Conférences de Notre-Dame de Paris (1844)

Antichrist revisited

Cardinal Biffi is preaching the Pope's Lenten retreat. From Zenit dispatch:

Code: ZE07022806
Date: 2007-02-28
Retreatants Hear of Guises of the Antichrist
Preacher Draws On Work of V.S. Solovyov

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Antichrist is the reduction of Christianity to an ideology, instead of a personal encounter with the Savior, says the cardinal directing the retreat which Benedict XVI is attending.

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, retired archbishop of Bologna, delivered that message during a meditation Tuesday, drawing on the work of Russian philosopher Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov.

The cardinal's meditation came during the weeklong Spiritual Exercises being attended by the Pope and members of the Roman Curia. The retreat ends this Saturday. The Holy Father suspended his usual meetings, including the general audience, in these days.

According to Vatican Radio's summary of his preaching, the cardinal explained that "the teaching that the great Russian philosopher left us is that Christianity cannot be reduced to a set of values. At the center of being a Christian is, in fact, the personal encounter with Jesus Christ."

Quoting the work "Three Dialogues on War, Progress and the End of History," Cardinal Biffi told his listeners that "the Antichrist presents himself as pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist."

"He will convoke an ecumenical council and will seek the consensus of all the Christian confessions, granting something to each one. The masses will follow him, with the exception of small groups of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants," he said.

The cardinal added that Solovyov says in that work: "Days will come in Christianity in which they will try to reduce the salvific event to a mere series of values."

No cross

When I first read this (that the anti-christ would call an ecuemenical council), reason spoke to me in the form "only a pope can call an ecuemenical council" but my will blunted the obvious counsel of reason. Denial? Not willful, but more like the expression "deer in the headlights" (they freeze.. bad for night drivers, good for night poachers); a conclusion simply too horrific to fully comprehend, much like, I imagine, Sophia's parents' reaction to the news that an immense tumor was hiding in the brain of their beautiful child. The tumor in the mind and heart of the Church is so profound, it threatens to blind and stunt it, to kill it outright.

Thanks to Simon-Peter for figuratively jumping up and down and waving his arms and shouting is anybody listening? He gave me pause to reflect on the elephant in the living room, so to speak.

<edit 3/5/07> Elsewhere in private correspondence, it was pointed out that Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote on this in his book, "Communism and the Conscience of the West," that in Soloviev's story, the 'antichrist figure' calls together a World Council of Church (WCC) and makes various promises to each group...Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic and in each succession 2/3rds of each part move over to the side of the Anti-Christ. Later it speaks of Pope Peter, His Beatitude John of Constantinople and the protestant. These are the 3 witnesses of Revelation which in the end are struck dead.

You can't keep a good God down...

I work with many Mormons; a religion that has a different understanding of God and of Jesus Christ (OK, so call me a master of the intuitively obvious to the casual observer). It's hard to pin down a member of that religion on just when Jesus attained his Good-hood (or is that God-head?); you know, when the man became a God. Before the crucifixion? After? I even had one fellow try and convince me that Jesus always was, but only just gradually became aware of his "God-hood" (perhaps this fellow was been a convert from liberal Catholicism?).

But in all this musing, I realized that I had the same problem with the term "Deicide" as my old buddy Nestorius had with "Theotokos" - he objected that Mary could not be the mother of God because God pre-existed Mary; but Mary gave birth to Jesus, and since Jesus is God, and Mary gave Him birth, Mary is the mother of God; we have to set aside our preconceptions and put Truth above our pre-conceived notions.

I never realized until now that my discomort with the term "Deicide" was because "death of God" was bringing up an unformed and unstated understanding of "the person of God no longer exists" - something that of course is not so. Nestorius understood the truth, but rejected the truth of the term "Theotokos, "because of what he feared would be the false conclusions drawn by the unlearned from it. Bad move; never sacrifice Truth, come what may. I've never argued against the term "Deicide," but never understood what it was that made me uncomfortable about it either. Just as God truly pre-exists Mary but was born of Mary, so God truly died on the cross for our salvation, but did not cease to exist.

As Paul says, Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

I must be having a Sphedoinkle day.

About the Pueri Cantores - Young Singers

A letter to the editor in the Feb online edition of:

About the Pueri Cantores - Young Singers

In “Language in the Roman Rite Liturgy: Latin and Vernacular”, Cardinal Arinze’s keynote address to the Gateway Liturgical Conference (published in Adoremus Bulletin December 2006-January 2007), he made reference to Pueri Cantores and Pope Benedict’s endorsement of its work.

This wonderful organization encourages young Catholics to sing the great liturgical music of the Church. Young choristers singing in parish and school choirs are invited to become members to encourage one another and participate in local, national and international Choir Festivals. At the Gateway Liturgical Conference 750 choristers sang at a Festival Mass celebrated in the Cathedral of St. Louis. I doubt that most of those young people will forget that experience! Pueri Cantores offers a alternative to the “hot dog and hamburger” music that we have been feeding our younger generation of Catholics.

As the Episcopal Moderator of the American Federation Pueri Cantores, Cardinal George of Chicago, has said, “Though many years have passed, I remember singing in the Paulist Choir in Chicago as a boy. Worshipping God in song gave me a great joy and satisfaction. It can give the same to singers and their supporters, as well as their listeners.”

For information about the American Federation Pueri Cantores please contact the national office, 615 East Chapman Avenue, Suite 200, Orange, CA. 92866. An informational DVD and printed information is available.

Father David M. DyeBoard Chairman, AFPC

---

OK, here's our choir, which is a member of Pueri Cantores

For Lent, they are singing Atende Domine, Adoramus te Christi, Ave Verum Corpus, Magnificat, and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. We've lost some of the older boys to voice change, and have quite a crop of little ones; In spite of this, the choir will be singing in the Sacred Music venue of Boise Music Week, a secular event.

The choir sings a mass quarterly, and has traveled to Baker City to sing at mass, and hopes you will invite them!(click Dr. Berg's picture below for an email address)

PLUG FOR CHOIR:

Dr. Lynn Berg, Professor of voice at Boise State University, is the choir director. The choir needs you, men and boys! You will not get better free voice lessons than this!

Los Angeles edumacation conference

Over at Lair of the Catholic Caveman, our very own Anita has been dubbed:

All Around Bad-Ass Of The WEEK

for her V-For Victory post on the Los Angeles Religious Edumacation Conference.

---

For a sanity check, here's a rational approach to passing on the faith, by Bp. Robert Vasa, Diocese of Baker:


ENTRUSTED WITH SACRED DUTIES
A Pastoral Letter for Diocesan Lay Ministers
On the Occasion of the Implementation of the
Requirements of
Giving Testimony to the Truth

hat tip to Catholic Caveman,
Zuccetto Spin to V-For Victory,
and ring-kiss to Most Reverend Bishop Robert F. Vasa, D.D. Bishop of Baker

---

attribution: "edumacational" is a word I first found at Simon-Peter Says

Antichrist

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Antichrist is the reduction of Christianity to an ideology, instead of a personal encounter with the Savior, says the cardinal directing the retreat which Benedict XVI is attending.
[...]
Quoting the work "Three Dialogues on War, Progress and the End of History," Cardinal Biffi told his listeners that "the Antichrist presents himself as pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist."

read the full Zenit article here

hat tip to Simon-Peter