Saturday, May 25, 2013

A time for blogging and a time for working...


If you have not completely abandoned me after so little posting, I am continuing to try to get some long overdue house cleaning and projects done.  I was sick much of last year before having a benign adrenal cyst removed, and as I get my health back on track, I'm looking around and seeing just how much has to be done around the house.  So, your patience is appreciated.  On the good news front, last year I was taking almost the max dose of two different blood pressure pills, diuretics and other medications. With the cyst gone, I am now only taking the lowest dose of one blood pressure pill on an as needed basis because my pressure was too low taking it on a daily basis.  That is a pretty good new "problem" to have in the wake of evicting that cyst.  I'm also taking diuretics on an as needed basis.  While I did not have what is called a pheochromocytoma which can produce blood pressure-raising hormones, the benign cyst (think water balloon) was wrapped around the adrenal gland likely putting pressure on it, and somehow causing wild BP swings.  I was initially told there would be no change in my blood pressure, but two weeks after the surgery it came crashing down - literally.  There is no cure for high blood pressure... unless you have a situation such as this or if a hormone producing tumor is removed.

Memorial Day

This coming Monday, I ask you to consider giving a part of your day to keeping in mind that Memorial Day is about remembering the war dead.  I'll be remembering my Uncle Eddie who died in WWII.  I spoke about him in a photo-post on Memorial Day at Grotto some years ago here.  In fact, the picture outdoors in the center of my blog header right now from that day.

Note that there is a 7:30 AM Mass on Memorial Day at Grotto, and a special 9:00 AM Mass that begins with a flag raising outside, with bonafide bugler playing TAPS.  This has often been in the ordinary form and I never know until it happens, what Mass it will be.  Last year I think it was in the extraordinary form (Tridentine).  Here is the bulletin for this weekend and you can see the Mass schedule for the week and Fr. Perrone's column. There is no 7:00 PM Mass on Memorial Day.

Corpus Christi

On the following Sunday, Fr. Perrone will conduct an orchestral Mass at Noon (TLM) and the Corpus Christi Procession with the Blessed Sacrament on the grounds of Assumption Grotto.

News

If you come here daily, you can note the news column from Catholic Culture embedded in my side bar that updates automatically.  Though, on Sundays and holidays they may take a well-deserved break.  You can always check in at New Advent's home page for some really great daily reads.

For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

- Diane M. Korzeniewski

Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Photos from Pentecost Solemn High Mass


Today for Pentecost we had a Solemn High Mass, thanks to the assistance of the newly ordained Deacon Louis Lapeyre (to the left of the celebrant, Fr. John Bustamante, also isolated below) and Mr. Tim Ferguson (to the right, who served as sub-deacon).  Deacon Lapeyre, a parishioner of Assumption Grotto and former choir member, looks forward to priestly ordination here in the Archdiocese of Detroit within the next year.  Mr. Ferguson will be following his call to the priesthood in the Diocese of Marquette.  He has been serving as a canon lawyer for the Archdiocese of Detroit.  Please keep both men in your prayers.  

Fr. Perrone conducted an orchestral Mass today - the Mozart, Missa in C major (KV 257).  It will be heard again at the Noon Mass on Corpus Christi.  At this time, I do not know if that will be a Solemn High, but I do expect the Traditional Latin Mass.


 The ladies schola sings the Alleluia and Sequence.


The ladies schola is directed by parishioner long-time choir member, Ruth Lapeyre, the mother of Deacon Louis Lapeyre. She also teaches voice at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.











A couple of young parishioners got in the way of my camera lens, as often happens at Mass. 



I have not fully processed the photos, nor have I uploaded any to Smugmug yet.  I have some home projects going on right now and have not had much time for blogging and photography.  In fact, I still have May Crowning photos to get to yet, hopefully soon.  In any event, blogging will be light for a few weeks.


For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

- Diane M. Korzeniewski

Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Orchestral Mass Schedule for Pentecost and Corpus Christi

Photo taken at a past dress rehearsal


Here are the Orchestral Masses coming up, starting this Sunday for Pentecost.  I know the Pentecost Mass at 9:30 will be in the Extraordinary Form - a Solemn High Mass.  I'm not sure yet about Corpus Christi.


Orchestral Masses
Performance - Sunday, May 19 Pentecost Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Mass
Performance - Sunday, June 2, Corpus Christi Sunday at 12:00 Noon Mass.
 Mozart: Missa in C major (KV 257) 
Schubert: Salve Regina in A, op. 153



Because of the dress rehearsal on Wednesday night, the evening Mass is moved to 6:00 PM from it's usual 7:00 PM time-slot.

On Corpus Christi, following the Noon Mass, there will be a Eucharistic Procession on the grounds of Assumption Grotto, weather permitting.  You can see some pics from the 2010 procession here.  This is usually well attended, and well appreciated.

For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

- Diane M. Korzeniewski

Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Grotto's Got Talent! Come Saturday for an Evening of Fun


This Saturday night, some very talented people at Assumption Grotto will be putting on a Vaudeville Night.  It is at 7:00 PM in the gym at the parish.  If you have never been to one of these talent shows at Assumption Grotto, it is no ordinary show.  Some of the young people are near professional caliber.  They have been working for a couple of months now, so please come for an evening of fun.

Also, if you are local please let others know even if you cannot make it.  Use the Facebook share buttons and other social media, or just email this post to your friends.


SIDE NOTE
I'm aware of the Gosnell guilty verdict and will be posting soon on it.  I recommend visiting LifeNews.com for the latest if you have not heard.  How fitting it should come on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.





For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

- Diane M. Korzeniewski

Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.

May 13: Our Lady of Fatima






Today in the new calendar, is the optional Feast of Our Lady of Fatima.  May 13, 1917 is the first day the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the children of Fatima.  (See the official page and click around here)

The apparitions are described on this page, with their dates. Note how distinct each message is and how few there are.

Today, Papacy of Pope Francis was consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima, at his request.  I'll update the post later with information on this as it is not yet available online.  I wanted to watch it but forgot to set the DVR and woke up at the very end of the Mass in Fatima.

Several years ago, Fr. Perrone began a series of talks on the 13th of the Month beginning in May that that year.  They were based on the book, "Fatima in Lucia's Own Words."  This book is not for the faint of heart, nor for those who believe that the faith is all Resurrection and no Cross.  In the book, Sr. Lucia explains the heroic virtue, especially of Bl. Jacinta.  That child found many creative ways to engage in voluntary redemptive suffering (Col 1:24) in response to Our Lady's call to make acts of reparation.

See also, the prayers of Fatima. Some you may recognize.

Please note that this post is not about the Consecration of Russia.  I'm hesitant to make any posts on Fatima because of how this issue detracts from the larger message of Fatima which is one of prayer, reparation and personal holiness.  Therefore, I will not be publishing any comments related to that topic, so please do not spend the time writing them out.  Thank you.




OTHER, UNRELATED NOTES

Pope Francis proclaimed new saints yesterday. See the full text of his homily at that Mass.

If you missed my Saturday book review of St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross on The Beatitudes by Thomas M. Reid, OCDS, please check it out.  Tom Reid is the president of the secular Carmelite community at Assumption Grotto which meets on First Saturdays starting with the special 8:30 AM Mass.  He wrote the book in 2010 and it is quite unique in looking at the Sermon on the Mount through the mother and father of the Carmelite order.

For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

- Diane M. Korzeniewski

Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

For Some Mothers, a Bouquet of Prayers...



That was my mother, Rose, sitting outside at Grotto waiting for Fr. Perrone's 30th Anniversary party to begin on June 1, 2008 - almost one full year to the date of her death on June 17, 2009 at the age of 77.

I'm copying in something I made in a previous year because it is so fitting.

*******

Dear Mom,

While you passed away several years ago, there isn't a day that goes by that you don't come to mind. The flowers I will put out at your grave may console me, but I know the greatest gift I can give you today, and everyday, is a bouquet of prayers for the repose of your soul. I am comforted to know that if you are not in purgatory and in no need of my prayers, they will go to some other mother in need of them.  You wouldn't have it any other way.  I entrust you to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom I also honor this day Mother's Day.

I now give this bouquet of thanks:

 The first rose is for saying "YES" to life - my life.

The second rose is for all of those diapers you changed.

The third rose is for always feeding your children and husband before yourself.

The fourth rose is for all of the sleepless nights you had to care for me while I was sick. 
The fifth rose is for the times you invited me as a young child to assist you in the kitchen, even though I was more of a hindrance than a help. 
The sixth rose is for telling me how you let your stroke-ridden grandmother do the dishes knowing you would have to quietly redo them after she went for a nap.

The seventh rose is for not letting me barricade myself in a room while relatives paid a visit.

The eighth rose is for making me come in the house when the street lights went on.

The ninth rose is for making me laugh. 
The tenth rose is for going to Mass every Sunday unless you were half-dead.

The eleventh rose is for being a witness to charity.

The twelfth rose is for being my mother and my friend.




For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

- Diane M. Korzeniewski

Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Book Review: St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross on the Beatitudes




Thomas M. Reid, the current president of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Carmelite Community which meets at Assumption Grotto on First Saturdays, was the formation director for many years.  In fact, he is one of several co-founders of our community having been a secular Carmelite long before coming to the parish. Grotto's pastor, Fr. Eduard Perrone, also an original member, serves as the chaplain or spiritual director.  I joined the community in 2005. In fact, it is one of several factors that led me to the parish for the very first time on May 15, 2005, the Feast of Pentecost that year. I was pursuing spiritual direction given to me by my Franciscan novice mistress in February 1983 to find a spiritual director fluent in the works of St. John of the Cross, to which I had gravitated before leaving that community in Herzegovina due to illness.  That was not an easy task and I abandoned it after about a year of coming up empty.  Then one day, I contacted Mother Mary Elizabeth at the Carmelite Monastery in Clinton Township, who referred me to Fr. Perrone and the community at Assumption Grotto.  The rest is history.

Tom has been helpful in many ways over the years, even writing workbooks on the writings of St. John of the Cross.  His talks at our monthly formation meetings have enabled us to probe the writings of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila much deeper.  A look at one of his well-read Carmelite books tells you something.  I happened to have my camera with me in 2009 and when I got a glimpse of one of his Carmelite books -- this one being the collected works of St. John of the Cross, I believe -- I asked to take pictures of it.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of one of the pages with notes on top of notes, on top of other notes. These tiny bundles of thoughts went in every white space that could be found on a given page. Tom never saw a need to replace his trusty old books, held together with rubber bands, with newer, crisp versions.  I think it could be summed up in my father's explanation as to why he hated it when my mother washed the coffee pot: "All the flavor buds go down the drain." Tom's disintegrating Carmelite books are full of flavor buds and gems to be mined.  In fact, I think we need to put them in a special library for future reference after he has gone to his reward.  Only the Good Lord knows what treasures we will find there. Click on the pics below to get a closer look at the book he had that day.





St. Teresa of Jesus & St. John of the Cross on The Beatitudes

With some word about who Tom Reid is above, I now begin my long over-due review of his book on the Beatitudes in the writings of St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross - the mother and father of the Order of Discalced Carmelites.  Secular Carmelites were once called lay or third order Carmelites.  But, as Fr. Perrone's example shows, even a diocesan (secular) priest can become a secular Carmelite, the formal expression now used by the order.

Tom's targeted audience for this book is secular Carmelites because we are supposed to pay particular attention to the Beatitudes in our daily life.  However, it would be a significant mistake to limit the audience in such a way.  The Beatitudes is a book for any Catholic wanting to probe the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount.

What Tom does is he first explores a particular Beatitude, then he breaks it down into two parts.  For example, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven, is broken down by looking at the Kingdom of God, then looking at poverty in spirit.  What he does next could only be done by someone who has read the same works over and again over a period of many years, or in Tom's case, decades.  He pulls from each of the primary Carmelite works those things that pertain to the Beatitudes.  When he finishes the first one, then moves on to the second one and the process begins again, first finding relevant nuggets in each of Teresa's key works, followed by those of St. John of the Cross.  Throughout the book you are exploring certain themes or even words in the works of these saints.  As many times as I have read the Sermon on the Mount, I never peeled away the layers the way Tom has in his book, The Beatitudes.

One thing this achieves is to give us a very good orientation of the primary Carmelite works.  Even though I have read most of the books he excerpts from cover to cover, he really opened them up for me, as he has in his talks, and in his work books.

Here is one excerpt discussing poverty of spirit (pardon any typos or errors which may have occurred as I typed this part out).

We now turn to The Ascent of Mt. Carmel of St. John of the Cross to examine his views on the importance of poverty of spirit that will result in a soul gaining the Kingdom of God. We can easily translate this Beatitude into the language of St. John of the Cross. Poverty of spirit is the result that occurs in the soul that traverses the dark nights of the spiritual doctrine of this saint. The core of St. John's teachings concerns the dying of the soul to all the attachments it has to the world and it's attractions, the devil and his wiles, and most of all to the self defined as the center of the soul's consciousness and the object of its activities. As the soul progresses through each of the dark nights, of sense and spirit, active and passive, poverty of spirit increases. Each of these nights requires an increasingly painful separation from an attachment to creatures that is deeply embedded in the soul. Later in its journey, the soul will be required by God to detach itself from the spiritual satisfactions and the obstacles to union with God. They are obstacles because they are treated as ends in themselves, rather than means to the true end: union with God.  
These attachments are barriers to poverty of spirit because they bind the soul to practices and methods of approaching God that are contaminated with self-interest, and seek as their object something that is less than God. In this way, the soul tends to retain something for itself and its own delight, and therefore, poverty  of spirit is limited until these spiritual attachments are also surrendered and abandoned and no longer treated as ends (page 35). 

If you have never read any of the works of St. Teresa of Avila or of St. John of the Cross, this book may get you interested in reading them. For those who have read the great works, you will find your understanding blossoming in ways unexpected.

How to get the The Beatitudes and other Carmelite works:

For those not local, Tom's books are sold through Little Flower Press.  Here is the page for St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross on The Beatitudes. Once again, while it is targeted to secular Carmelites, this treasure is useful for any Catholic wanting to understand the Beatitudes or the works of the great Carmelite reformers.  They are not available at Amazon, nor is there an e-version of the book at this time.  Some pretty high volume would be needed for these things and perhaps your interest could help in this regard.

Getting started in the great Carmelite works, I think it is best to begin with the Way of Perfection by Teresa of Avila.  It is in the Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, or in a stand alone version.  Likewise, I recommend the Collected Works of St. John of the Cross.  You will go back to them over and again as you grow in spirituality. Carmelites and non-Carmelites alike learn from these Doctors of the Church.  I prefer the translations by Kieran Kavanagh, OCD through ICS Publications.

Visit your local Catholic book store to help keep them in your neighborhood. Assumption Grotto's giftshop, which is open on Sundays after the 9:30 AM and Noon Masses, as well as on weekdays for about an hour after the 7:30 AM Mass should have these books, as well as Tom's book on The Beatitudes.  Just ask at the desk or inquire through direct message at the giftshop Facebook page.

If you don't have a local bookstore to support, or want to get the great Carmelite works online,  here are some of my suggestions.




From time to time I get email inquiries about life as a secular Carmelite.  To learn more about living in the world as a Secular Carmelite may want to consult the little booklet by the OCD Delegate to the OCDS, Fr. Aloysius Deeney, OCD: Welcome to the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites.  If you want to visit a secular Carmelite community, look at the OCDS Generalate page in Rome to see if there is one near you.  You may have to really click around, especially within the various US provinces, and not all of them are kept up to date.  I give that link because I have a global readership and there are communities in many countries. Not all of them have websites, and those that do don't necessarily keep them up to date.




For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

- Diane M. Korzeniewski

Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Photo: Assumption Grotto Church from another angle




I was out getting some stock photos in recent days.  This one turned out quite well, by the grace of God. He set the stage; I just snapped a button.


For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

- Diane M. Korzeniewski

Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

St. Augustine on Psalm 37: Do not fret because of the wicked



How often do we get upset about what others are doing - things that are immoral, unethical, and often sinful? How often do we envy how easy evil-doers seem to have it in life? Psalm 37 deals with this and teaches us how to respond.

I'm going to do a lot of quoting here because I just can't summarize Augustine.  He has a way of saying things that hits home, but you may have to read it more than once.

St. Augustine, in discussing Psalm 37[36] had this to say:

2. This it is that disturbs you who are a Christian; that you see men of bad lives prospering, and surrounded with abundance of things like these; you see them sound in health, distinguished with proud honors; you see their family unvisited by misfortune; the happiness of their relatives, the obsequious attendance of their dependants, their most commanding influence, their life uninterrupted by any sad event; you see their characters most profligate, their external resources most affluent; and your heart says that there is no Divine judgment; that all things are carried to and fro by accidents, and blown about in disorderly and irregular motions. For if God, you say, regarded human affairs, would his iniquity flourish, and my innocence suffer? Every sickness of the soul has in Scripture its proper remedy. Let him then whose sickness is of that kind that he says in his heart things like these, let him drink this Psalmby way of potion....

Today's Office of Readings (OOR) began with Psalm 37 and it is broken up into parts.  Here is a link to the Office of Readings for May 7, 2013 (Tuesday of 6th week after Easter) at DivineOffice.org; hopefully, it will work indefinitely.  I'm going to quote some of it, but I prefer to use the RSV-Catholic Edition online for Psalm 37 [36].  Here is the beginning:

1 Fret not yourself because of the wicked, be not envious of wrongdoers! 2 For they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb.
It is interesting to read how St. Augustine probes this sentence.  He writes quite a bit on so little text.  First he tells us that what is "soon" to God is long to us and that we need to conform ourselves to what is "soon" for God.  This means patience is required.  He points out that the grass and green herb are on the surface of the ground, without deep roots. They may fair the winter well, but in the scorching heat of summer they fade and wither.  He then writes:


But if your love has but a deep root, like that of many trees during winter, the frost passes away, the summer (that is, the Day of Judgment) will come; then will the greenness of the grass wither away. Then will the glory of the trees appear. For you (says the Apostle) are dead, Colossians 3:3 even as trees seem to be in winter, as it were dead, as it were withered. What is our hope then, if we are dead? The root is within; where our root is, there is our life also, for there our love is fixed.

That last sentence by Augustine reminds me of Matthew 6:21: For where your treasure is, there also will be your heart. 

 The Psalm continues:
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security. 4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will bring forth your vindication as the light, and your right as the noonday. 7 Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 9 For the wicked shall be cut off; but those who wait for the LORD shall possess the land. 10 Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look well at his place, he will not be there.

Augustine explains that the land spoken of is the Church.  The security of those who trust in the Lord is not like the fleeting trust of those who are attached to worldly things. Possessing things is different from possessing God.  Possession of things does not come from God's grace, but from the world and the flesh.  Our possession of God begins with God's possession of us and it is our response.  We can't possess both God and things (Mt 6:24).  Later, in section 9, Augustine explains why it bothers us, what others do, and why we should not fret.

9. See! I do so; I do 'submit to the Lord, and I do entreat.' But what do you think? That neighbour of mine is a wicked man, living a bad life, and prosperous! His thefts, adulteries, robberies, are known to me. Lifted up above every one, proud, and raised on high by wickedness, he deigns not to notice me. In these circumstances, how shall I hold out with patience? This is a sickness; drink, by way of remedy. Fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way. He prospers, but it is in his way: you suffer, but it is in God's way! His portion is prosperity on his way, misery on arriving at its end: yours, toil on the road, happiness in its termination. The Lord knows the way of the righteous; and the way of the ungodly shall perish. Thou walkest those ways which the Lord knows, and if you dost suffer toil in them, they do not deceive you. The way of the ungodly is but a transitory happiness; at the end of the way the happiness is at an end also. Why? Because that way is the broad road; its termination leads to the pit of hell. Now, your way is narrow; and few there be that enter in through it: Matthew 7:13-14 but into how ample a field it comes at the last, you ought to consider. Fret not yourself at him who prospers in his way; because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.

He continues in section 9 to discuss the seriousness of potentially sinful anger.  There is such a thing as righteous anger, but it is not what most think it to be.  We will explore this in another post on anger and righteous anger (and it may need to be a series of posts).   When someone else is doing something wrong, we do not have a right to be angry any way that fits us.  Here is some of what Augustine says in the next paragraph of section 9:


Cease from anger, and forsake wrath Psalm 36:8. Wherefore are you angry? Wherefore is it that, through that passionand indignation, you blaspheme, or almost blaspheme? Against the man who brings wicked devices to pass, cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Do you not know whither that wrath tempts you on? You are on the point of saying unto God, that He is unjust. It tends to that. Look! Why is that man prosperous, and this man in adversity? Consider what thought it begets: stifle the wicked notion. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: so that now returning to your senses, you may say, My eye is disturbed because of wrath. What eye is that, but the eye of faith? To the eye of your faith I appeal. Thou believed in Christ: why did you believe? What did He promise you? If it was the happiness of this world that Christ promised you, then murmur against Christ; yes! Murmur against Him, when you see the wicked flourishing. What of happiness did He promise? What, save in the Resurrection of the Dead? But what in this life? That which was His portion. His portion, I say! Do you, servant and disciple, disdain what your Lord, what your Masterbore?...
There is so much more worth quoting, but it is really best if you just read Psalm 37 in it's entirety, then read St. Augustine's exposition on it at New Advent.  Read it slow; read each paragraph several times if need be.  When I am fixed on a particular psalm or scripture passage, I like to visit New Advent (which has a collection of texts from Church Fathers and others) then type in a few keywords, psalm, or passage number in the search tool there and see what comes up.  Sometimes, you can find several saints with commentaries or letters involving a given text.  

God gives us the tools to handle situations, we just need to look in the tool box, then use those tools.  

Lots of things are happening out there that could cause us to be down when we are suppose to mirror the light of Christ.  Every generation has it's challenges and it isn't up to us to question why we must deal with this or that. The issue is not that others sin; rather, it is our response to the sinfulness of others.  Don't dwell in it.  Don't let it make you bitter or anxious.  Bookmark this post and go back to Psalm 37 and St. Augustine's exposition if you find yourself down because of what others do.  May God give you comfort.  

We will give St. Teresa of Avila the parting word since this is so apropos. 


*******

Update: Last night I didn't think to look in my book of commentaries on the psalms by Saint Robert Bellarmine.  He writes a rather lengthy exposition on Psalm 37.  I will make another post with further thoughts from him on this subject.


For interesting news items I don't have time to blog on, check out my Twitter Feed: @TeDeumBlog

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

- Diane M. Korzeniewski

Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Bishop Conley: Media reluctant to cover "murderous doctor, running a 'clinic' reminiscent of Auschwitz"



The jury will begin it's third day of deliberations in the trial of Kermit Gosnell, who is accused of the murder of one woman who died from an overdose of drugs at his abortion mill, and for the horrendous murders of four babies, born alive, then killed with scissors.  Gosnell faces the death penalty, but could end up with life in prison, if convicted.

Gosnell, who has been in jail since his arrest, was moved to solitary confinement for his own safety.  Other convicts, "frown on snipping babies."  Two days ago I suggested that if he ends up with life in prison, it will be lived out in isolation for this very reason.  Visit LifeNews for all the latest on the Gosnell trial.

I hope Bishop James D. Conley doesn't mind me quoting this article in full.  It was in the Southern Nebraska Register, the newspaper of the Diocese of Lincoln where Bishop Conley has succeeded Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz.

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Abortion, Contraception Consequences on Display in Gosnell’s ‘house of horrors’
May 3, 2013

Our news outlets are not known for their squeamish attitude toward violence. On the contrary, reporters are often criticized for fixating on violence, exploiting it as fodder for the 24-hour news cycle.

We rarely see journalists shying away from a gruesome case. Yet, the media has been reluctant to cover the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell – a Philadelphia abortionist accused of committing unspeakable crimes at his "Women’s Medical Center."

Already indicted by a grand jury, Gosnell is on trial for running a "house of horrors," where hundreds of infants were born alive and beheaded with scissors.

The testimony against him includes some of the most shocking statements ever made in an American courtroom. His former aides speak of infants whose hands and feet were kept in jars, and their bodies flushed down toilets, after they were delivered alive and decapitated.

Somehow, this story went largely unnoticed by mainstream reporters. One would expect a murderous doctor, running a "clinic" reminiscent of Auschwitz, to face a media blitz and a burst of public outrage.

Instead, Gosnell’s trial has been treated as a low-key, local story. Pro-life advocates took up the task of publicizing it, using social media to make up for news outlets’ silence.

I suspect journalists would rather ignore what happened at Gosnell’s "Medical Center." The case raises too many disturbing questions – about the mentality behind abortion, and our culture’s troubling attitude toward human life.

For instance, most "pro-choice" partisans dismiss the idea that abortion leads to infanticide. They distance themselves from thinkers like Princeton’s professor Peter Singer – who defends the killing of newborns, and the "right" to abortion, on the same philosophical basis.

But Gosnell’s trial shows the difficulty of separating abortion from infanticide, in theory and in practice.

Indeed, there is a hideous logical consistency in Gosnell’s career. He started off killing children in the womb, and ended up killing them after birth. At some point, the distinction between abortion and infanticide must have struck him as a mere technicality, just a matter of geography.

Most abortion advocates are, thankfully, not so logical. Most of them find Gosnell’s actions appalling. Yet they have no valid or compelling grounds on which to condemn his particular methods of abortion as wrong.

Indeed, on the level of moral principles, infanticide and abortion are equivalent. Kermit Gosnell took the abortion mentality to its logical conclusion.

This is a hard fact, with disturbing implications. It is an inconvenient fact for journalists, and many members of their audience, to face. This partly explains their reluctance to cover Gosnell’s trial, since it directly raises the question of abortion and its relationship to infanticide.

But the link between infanticide and abortion is not the only issue raised by this case. There is also the larger question of how human life is regarded, in a culture where contraception is widespread and abortion becomes "backup birth control." After all, most women who seek an abortion are on some form of birth control.

Kermit Gosnell’s actions are the logical outcome of the abortion mentality. But they are also, in a deeper sense, the result of what Blessed John Paul II called the "contraceptive mentality."

Many people wrongly believe contraception prevents abortion. This is not borne out by statistics, or by careful thinking about the issues.

Research shows that contraception leads to riskier behavior, more unplanned pregnancies, and consequently, more abortion. When contraception fails – as it inevitably does – couples are tempted to eliminate the "unwanted" life.

Kermit Gosnell looked at these "unwanted" lives, and saw burdens placed upon women. He was more ruthless than most, in his efforts to eliminate these living "burdens."

Most people do not share Gosnell’s ruthlessness. But many in our society seem to share his attitude: that human life is sometimes an inconvenient and unnecessary burden, rather than a sacred gift from God.

This is the "contraceptive mentality" that Blessed John Paul II saw as a root cause of abortion. When we see any human life as a troublesome burden we must manage, rather than a sacred gift entrusted to our care, there is a temptation to get rid of the burden by any means necessary.

The Gosnell case suggests that our society’s view of human life is deeply wrong. It suggests that a culture of contraception cannot avoid becoming a "culture of death" – in which some lives are seen not as gifts, but as burdens.

Our media outlets thrive on provocation and controversy, but they shrink from life’s deeper questions. They shy away from suggesting that abortion might lead to infanticide. They don’t dare to ask whether the "contraceptive mentality" makes us callous toward life.

The popular media will not take the risk of raising these more fundamental questions by publicizing Gosnell’s trial. That is why we must raise awareness of this case, to help the world see the consequences of contraception and abortion.




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