Espiritualidad: The mystical illumination of Ignatius in the Cardoner river

By Admin

Aug

31

After a period of intense prayer, Ínigo de Loyola sat down in the banks of the river of Cardoner in Manresa, Spain where he dreamed wide-awake. It received a God illumination that was so intense that it took control personally of the mysteries of the faith. He writes in his autobiography: Whereas they seated there it, the awares of their understanding began to be been on; not that it saw any vision, but he understood and learned many things, both matters of spiritual and the matters of the faith and grants a scholarship, and this one with so great a explanation that everything seemed new to him. This left that its understanding clarified so that it felt as if it was another man with another mind.

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Espiritualidad: Light of the candle in the care of the house

By Admin

Aug

30

We dedicate this home to the love and the understanding. May their joys and pains are sharedand the individuality of the lives of each personwho and the visits appreciated here. We ignite a candle to love. (It ignites a candle.) we dedicated this home to the work, and rest, and game. May our home has joy and discharge grants a scholarship, with amiability in its voices and laughter that work within their walls. We ignite a candle to the joy. (It ignites a candle.) we dedicated this home to the friendly life. May their doors abren in hospitalityand their glances of the windows towards outside with amiability towards other homes. We ignite a candle to the friendship. (It ignites a candle.) we dedicated this home to the cooperation. May their duties are realised in love. Its furniture attests that the work of othersministers to our comfort, and its table remembers to us that God works with usfor the source of daily needs. We ignite a candle to the cooperation. (It ignites a candle.) we dedicated to this home to appreciationof all the good things and truths. May the books bring the wisdom, the pictures symbolize the beautiful things, and music brings joy and the inspiration. We ignite a candle to the esteem. (It ignites a candle.) we spent to the time and the talent of a that alive to this helps to construct a world in which each familymay has a home of the comfort and the scholarship. We ignite a candle to the Christian service. (It ignites a candle.) we dedicated this home like unit in the universal one of the church, an instrument of the God kingdom, a place of cult and trainingand of the Christian a threshold to the eternal one of life. We ignite a candle to the spiritual enrichment. (It ignites a candle.) as the flames indicate upwards, so our thoughts rise in gratitude to God for this home, and in the prayer for the God blessings it exceeds.

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Prayer: Avery cardinal Dulles, S.J.

By Admin

Aug

29

When I entered the catholic church I made a company that appeared reckless most of to the eyes of my family and friendly. Since religious made vote, I took a race that would not have ninguÌ felt  n unless the catholic faith were truth. If the kingdom is the Rep it of the great price, the treasure buried in the field, one is due to prepare to give for above everything to acquire it. It has always seemed that if God is God, its honor and the glory must be the first priority. Although the abundant care of the Sts cannot compete. Paul and Ignatius de Loyola, I am, like them, contained who will be used in the service of Christ and the gospel, if in disease or health, the good reputation or the ill reputation. Unmeasurably I am been thankful by the years in which the gentleman has allowed who carries out services in a society that takes like its motto: Majorem Dei Gloriam of the announcement. I trust that its tolerance will not fail to me, and that I will not fail its tolerance, in the future.

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The twenty second Sunday in ordinary time

By Admin

Aug

28

August 29, 2010 The elders of the community wrote instructions within Wisdom literature to help a young man or woman, who is about to start out in life, follow the path of righteousness so that one would enjoy a long life with many descendants. Humility would be a key ingredient in the recipe of success and happiness for the Lord God would favor one who rightly knows his or her position in God’s world. Humility was regarded as an especially a key element in an honor/shame/status-driven society of the ancient world. Jesus gave instructions at a dinner banquet in such a world. First, Jesus addresses the invited guests about choosing places of honor at the table that would defy societal conventions and would reveal humility as a new honored value. (I wonder at which seat Jesus was assigned.) Next, Jesus addresses the dinner party host with instructions on how to assemble a guest list that is compatible with one’s religious assertions. I thought about these passages as I observed people queuing up to board a plane. Everyone hoped for the best or most comfortable seat assignments. No one wanted to sit in the back because it meant that you did not want to pay for better seats or you were late in purchasing the tickets. The most honorable people could afford first class or business seats. These were the categories of people you hoped you could sit near because they obviously achieved a higher degree of status. If you sat in the back, you dreaded who might sit next to you because you would not be able to escape. We seem to be caught up in a similar type of honor/shame/status-driven society that existed in biblical times and we seek affirmation and glory from humans, rather than from God. When we work hard, we desire comfort, honor, status and power and we want to hang out with those who can benefit us. We want to live in the best city, to be in the best community, attend the most prestigious schools, or work at an esteemed institution. We simply want the best – and it elevates our esteem. We share the same types of desires as our biblical cousins. We operate by the same principles as found in any human society: Grab what you want first before all the selfish people take it. Jesus challenges us to care for those who sit at the back of the plane. These are the people who do not advance our position and are people with whom few would want to associate, but we know of the unexpected delights that we might experience when we open our attitudes up to the unexpected. We might find that we profit through mutual enrichment, that we might become a friend to someone who can give us nothing back but friendship, or that we simply might like the person beside us. Jesus is teaching us about God’s attitude towards us because all people, no matter their situations in life, are equally loved by God. God wants the best for us and God wants us to know that we are all connected to each other in our humanity. Sure, equality does not exist in human standards, but in the kingdom of Christ, this new order is a preview of the kingdom of heaven. Let’s try out this humility thing a little more often to see what we can learn from it. I bet our unsuspecting neighbor’s life will be touched deeply by our compassionate actions, and the enrichment that we create will help bring about the desired social order of the kingdom. It is worth the risk to step outside ourselves to see the opportunities. Quote for the Week From Luke 14:14 Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Themes for this Week’s Masses First Reading : Paul continues in 1st Corinthians by saying that the community’s faith is a demonstration of God’s power and spirit. The Spirit searches for other similar spirits and finds a home, which allows us to speak, not with human wisdom, but though as taught by the Spirit. Paul calls the people to become people of the Spirit and he outlines the way in which they still act as people who follow the ways of the flesh. God uses the ways that the world finds foolish as an example of wisdom, therefore we are to refrain from making judgments against our neighbor because the judgment of the Lord is the one in which we are to be concerned. When we believe in Christ, we are not to draw distinctions among ourselves so as to earn favor from men. Become fools for Christ. Gospel: Upon reading the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue, Jesus declares that in the people’s hearing of the scripture, it is being fulfilled in their presence. Jesus leaves for Capernaum and amazes the people as he teaches with such authority that even supernatural demons recognize his great power. Jesus then heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law and all the townspeople who come to him. When the crowd leaves and Jesus goes to Lake Gennesaret, he calls Peter as a disciple, who protests because he knows he is a sinful man. The scribes and Pharisees notice that Jesus does not observe the dietary customs and practices as other teachers do, by which he answers, “can the wedding guests fast while the bridge-groom is with them?” The Pharisees again approach him. This time they ask about his disregard for Sabbath observance of dietary laws to which he responds, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Saints of the Week Friday: Gregory the Great, pope and Doctor of the church , was a wealthy judge who resigned to become a monk, where he later became abbot of his monastery and then pope in 590. He was acclaimed for his greatness because of his exceeding charity to the poor, his commitment to justice, and his protection of Jewish rights. He produced a document that dealt with guidelines for pastoral care and wrote many scriptural commentaries, homilies, and explanations for liturgical rites. This Week in Jesuit History • Aug. 29, 1541: At Rome the death of Fr. John Codure, a Savoyard, one of the first 10 companions of St. Ignatius. • Aug. 30, 1556: On the banks of the St. Lawrence River, Fr. Leonard Garreau, a young missionary, was mortally wounded by the Iroquois. • Aug. 31, 1581: In St. John’s Chapel within the Tower of London, a religious discussion took place between St. Edmund Campion, suffering from recent torture, and some Protestant ministers. • Sep 1, 1907. The Buffalo Mission was dissolved and its members were sent to the New York and Missouri Provinces and the California Mission. • Sep 2, 1792. In Paris, ten ex-Jesuits were massacred for refusing to take the Constitutional oath. Also in Paris seven other fathers were put to death by the Republicans, among them Frs. Peter and Robert Guerin du Rocher. • Sep 3, 1566. Queen Elizabeth visited Oxford and heard the 26-year-old Edmund Campion speak. He was to meet her again as a prisoner, brought to hear her offer of honors or death. • Sep 4, 1760. At Para, Brazil, 150 men of the Society were shipped as prisoners, reaching Lisbon on December 2. They were at once exiled to Italy and landed at Civita Vecchia on January 17, 1761. Last Days of Summer/Winter As winter brightens to early spring in the southern hemisphere, the northern hemisphere savors the last days of summer that customarily end on Labor Day, September 6th. Enjoy this transitional time as the calendar moves into a new phase of life. Pray and Give Alms – Pakistan Relief Efforts The floods in Pakistan continue to devastate one-sixth of the country’s population leaving many people displaced and without adequate food and shelter. Worldwide aid has been a pittance compared to the response we gave to Haiti and Chile in their disasters. We acknowledge that we may sometimes have ambivalent feelings toward the inhabitants because they are men and women of a different faith tradition halfway around the world and the U.S. and its military allies have been engaged in an armed conflict with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban for almost a decade. Nonetheless, our brothers and sisters need our aid. If we can reach them first and take care of their basic needs, we can gain their sympathies before our enemies promise to take care of them and devote them to their militant cause. Regardless of all of that, they are our brothers and sisters in need. If you would like to make a donation, please consider contacting the Jesuit Refugee Services USA at www.jrsusa.org or to Catholic Charities in your diocese.

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Literature: of confessions, Augustine, near 400

By Admin

Aug

27

Déjelos to praise Thy names, leaves the Thee praise, supercelestial people, Los Angeles of Thine, that does not have any necessity to watch for above in this firmament, or reading that is to say of Thy word. For them behold always expensive Thy, and reads there without no syllables in time, what willeth Thy eternal will; they read, they choose, they love. They are never reading; and never it disappears that they read; for choosing, and loving, they read the same unchangeableness of Thy advice. Its book never is closed, nor its folded scroll; seeing the art of Thyself of thousands this them, and the art eternally; because hast of thousands in time ordered on this firmament of the people lowest, where they can watch for above and learning Thy mercy, announcing Thee whom the times more madest. For Thy mercy, the gentleman of Or, is in skies, and Thy reacheth of the truth to clouds. The clouds disappear, only abideth of the sky.

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Literature: Augustine (EC near 400) of the confessions

By Admin

Aug

26

They bless to all thy holy, God of Or and the king, that have traveled on the stormy sea of this mortal life, and have made the happiness and peace port. To watch we who still are in our dangerous trip; and the lie set out to rough storms of the hardship and the temptations remembers for example. Fragile it is our container, and the ocean is wide; but as to thy hast of thousands of the mercy determines our course, so it directs the container of our life towards the eternal border of La Paz, and tráiganos long to the reserved asylum of the desire of our heart, where it blesses thousands, Or our God, and more livest and more reignest forever.

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Prayer: Prayer to the sacred heart San Francisco De Sales

By Admin

Aug

25

Thy May halting of the heart always in our hearts! Thy May of the blood flow never in the veins of our souls! Sun of our hearts, the life more givest of Or thousands to all the things by rays of Thy quality! I will not go until Thy heart has consolidated to me, Mr. Jesus of Or! May the heart of Jesus is the king of my heart! Blessed it is God. Amen.

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Prayer: Manuel D’Alzon

By Admin

Aug

24

The gentleman, is on the awares in our true destiny and does that we understand that trying to glorify to him in the Earth in our first one to have and is average the more insurances to reach our true greatness in eternity.

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Prayer: The Colombiere, S.J of Claude.

By Admin

Aug

23

Jesus, you are the unique and true friend; not only you participate in all sufferings but take you in and knows them the secret of how changing them in the joy for me. You listen to me amiably and when I say my afflictions to him you sweeten always them. Him encounter throughout, you never leave, and if they force to change the houses to me I find that you throughout I go. You do not suffer of the boredom when you listen to me, nor are you always tired to make me good. If I love you, I am safe to receive its love; you do not need my property nor are you exhausted giving his me. Although I am a poor man, nobody (at least noble, intelligent or santo) can rob its friendship of me. The death itself, that divides to all the friendly, will join me with you. No adversity of the age or the change will be successful to him in the drawing far from me; in the opposite, I will never enjoy so completely its presence and you never will be near like when everything it seems to conspire against me. Only you, with wonderful patience, can take with my failures. Even if my unfaithfulness and ingratitud offend to him, they do not avoid that you always are ready, if I want only it, to grant to your tolerance and its love.

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Poem: of our Mrs. of Walsingham, Lowell Robert, 1946

By Admin

Aug

22

Our lady, too small for her pavilion, feels near the altar. There is comelinessAt everything or no enchantment in that expressionlessFace with his heavy eyelids. Like before, this face, by centuries a memory, nonspecies of est, décor of neque, inexpressive, expresses God: goesPast shielded Sion. She knows what God knows, to not cross of Calvary nor manger it in BethlehemNow, and the world will come to Walsingham.

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Weekly distribution of the email

By Admin

Aug

21

If you wanted to add his name to the list of deprived weekly distribution, without revealing of the email, she please sends its email to predmoresj@yahoo.com

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The twentieth first Sunday in ordinary time

By Admin

Aug

21

August 22, 2010 The hopeful message of Isaiah’s reading gets twisted when pitted against Luke’s gospel passage. The Lord God tells Isaiah that some people from every nation will come to Jerusalem and see the divine glory and that some of these newly elect will become priests and Levites. The disciples of Jesus ask him if they will be saved as they realize only a few will be allowed into the kingdom. The closest friends of Jesus are unsure about their salvation even though they have listened to him, watched his wondrous miracles, heard his powerful words, and have left family and home to be with him. After all this they still are not assured. They hope and have faith and have practiced great acts of charity, but these very essential questions linger. This is a good disposition to have after all. Do you agree? It is a confusing time to be a Christian because we know we do not have many of the answers or perhaps even the proper questions to many questions about our faith. The beliefs many Christians have about today’s complicated social issues are often at odds with the religious leaders who are trying to teach us, and we understand that a solid pedagogical model incorporates understanding our contexts, prudently choosing our action plan, and then taking the time to ponder and reflect upon the rightness of our choices. All too often the teacher becomes the student as both teacher and student are bound to learn from each other. We recognize that no side really possesses the truth, but the best disposition to have is to strive and pursue the truth as contained in God’s will for me here and now. God’s will is manifested in the here and now. What exists today as truth for me may change tomorrow. Learning and enrichment are so paradoxical because we find out that we know less than we thought we would than when we first began. Like the disciples of Jesus, we may err if we presume to know more than we do. Rightly, they wonder and do not presume that they are among the saved who will enter into the kingdom. The question remains, “Do we know if we are saved?” Who makes it into the kingdom? The words of Jesus may upset us if we pay attention to the criteria he lists in the readings. People who are at the end of the line might get in before us. Merely knowing Jesus is not a qualification; the degree of being his friend however is significant. Those who we have rejected as unqualified might have the better seats than we do. Presuming we are in is an opposing vice to the virtue of hope. Finally, acting with humility and serving others seems to be the key to enter into the narrow gates. Together, these are difficult conditions to accept in today’s climate. What are we to do then? Developing our spiritual life and enriching our prayer experience with Jesus Christ will lead us into making the best choices we can. Our friendship with him will help us make the most prudential, merciful decisions we can because we will know what he wants from us and for us. If we learn to pay attention to both our needs and his, he will take care of us and we will learn to trust his way of being above all other inferior criteria in life. We will find that we like this way of goodness and we will want to be like him to a greater degree. It is just amazing what he will do for you when you realize how much he likes you. Quote for the Week From “The World According to Mr. Rogers” by Fred Rogers I hope you are proud of yourself for the times you’ve said “yes,” when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else. Themes for this Week’s Masses First Reading: Paul’s 2nd letter to the Thessalonians is inserted into the first reading when he bolsters the courage of the persecuted believers to persevere in prayer and good works. He calls everyone to act in a way that is in order with the imitation of Paul and Jesus so that we can be a model for others to come to belief. In 1st Corinthians, Paul gives thanks for the Greek-based community that is richly blessed by God’s grace. Paul declares that Christ sent him to preach the Gospel and its message of the cross, which is foolishness to those who don’t understand. Paul glorifies the crucified Christ as the power of God. Paul illustrates how those assembled also are foolish in the world’s eyes, but glorified in God’s. Gospel: Jesus unleashes his criticism upon the scribes and Pharisees whose actions mocks God and set the wrong example for discipleship. He encourages the people to be vigilant for the coming of the kingdom of God. They must build a relationship with God and be attentive to the divine will. He likens our disposition to receive the kingdom of heaven to be like the ten bridal virgins who are awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom and have their lamps prepared for his return. He then tells the parable of the man on a journey entrusting his possession to three servants, two of which invested the money, the third hid the talents and received no profit. For to everyone who has, more will be given and this person will grow rich. Saints of the Week Monday: Rose of Lima joined a Third Order of St. Dominic in Lima, Peru, a daughter of Spanish immigrants during the late 16th century. She practiced a life of penance, food deprivation and other harsh austerities, which brought about a few mystical experiences, but great periods of darkness and desolation. She was the first canonized saint from the New World. Tuesday: Bartholomew, Apostle , is one of the Twelve Disciples, but we know little about his identity. The Synoptics link his name to Philip, but John’s Gospel links Nathaniel’s to Philip. All we really know is that he was one of the chosen Twelve who was a friend of Jesus from the beginning and witnessed his resurrection. Wednesday: Louis of France became regent at age 12 and king at age 22 and ruled at a time of peace and prosperity. He is said to have been a fair man who acted justly, with mercy, and with great concern for the poor. He reigned for 44 years until his death in 1270. Friday: Monica is the mother of Augustine who encouraged him to convert to the Christian faith. Previously, he had abandoned his faith in favor of the Manichean tradition, but her prayer and fasting is attributed to aiding his conversion. They lived in North Africa, but Augustine later moved to Milan where he met and was baptized by Ambrose in 387. Ambrose introduced a Milanese Eucharistic rite called the Ambrosian rite. Saturday: Augustine, Bishop and Doctor , was the author of his Confessions, his spiritual autobiography, and The City of God, which described the life of faith in relation to the life of the temporal world. Many other writings, sermons, and treatises earned him the title Doctor of the church. In his formative years, he followed Mani, a Persian prophet who tried to explain the problem of evil in the world. His mother’s prayers and Ambrose’s preaching helped him convert to Christianity. He was named bishop of Hippo and defended the church against three major heresies. This Week in Jesuit History • Aug. 22, 1872: Jesuits were expelled from Germany during the Bismarckian Kulturkampf. • Aug. 23, 1558: In the First General Congregation, the question was discussed about the General’s office being triennial, and the introduction of choir, as proposed by Pope Paul IV, and it was decreed that the Constitutions ought to remain unaltered. • Aug. 24, 1544: Peter Faber arrived in Lisbon. • Aug. 25, 1666: At Beijing, the death of Fr. John Adam Schall. By his profound knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, he attained such fame that the Emperor entrusted to him the reform of the Chinese calendar. • Aug. 26, 1562: The return of Fr. Diego Laynez from France to Trent, the Fathers of the Council desiring to hear him speak on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. • Aug. 27, 1679: The martyrdom at Usk, England, of St. David Lewis, apostle to the poor in his native Wales for three decades before he was caught and hanged. • Aug. 28, 1628: The martyrdom in Lancashire, England, of St. Edmund Arrowsmith. My Return to the U.S. My period of formation called tertianship has come to an end. It has been a very rich time with incredibly happy memories during a period in which I formed strong bonds of Jesuit fraternity. I will miss many of my tertianmates as we disperse throughout the world into the ministries to which our provincials assign us. I am grateful for the terrific hospitality of the Australian province and their colleagues and friends. My prayer life and my heart are much richer for this special time. I am just incredibly happy.

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Espiritualidad: The dogmatic constitution in the catholic faith

By Admin

Aug

20

Chapter 2: In the revelation the same church of mother santa stops and teaches to that God, the principle and the end of all the things, can be known of created things, by the light of natural human reasons: “For since then the creation of the world, the eternal energy of God and the divine nature, invisible although they are, they have been understood and the things have been seen traverse that he has made” [ROM. 1:20]; nevertheless, it has satisfied its wisdom and the quality to reveal to the human race, in another one and the supernatural way, itself and the decrees ether to us his, as the apostle says: “God spoke a long time ago to our ancestors in many and the several ways of the prophets, but in these past days he has spoken by a son [to us Heb. 1:1 f, can.1].

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Prayer: Damián Jose de Veuster

By Admin

Aug

19

The communion santa maintains joy plenty to me. Without constant presence of our divine master in my humble chapel, I must never have been able to continue binding my life to the lepers of Moloka’i.

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Prayer: Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

By Admin

Aug

17

If we followed Christ, the persecution will come, since there are shortage with experience in so many countries when we tried to serve the faith and to promote justice. All we will not testify to Christ having spilled the blood of our life in sacrifice, but all we must without reserves offer our all the life to him. The essential thing, the thing of the Jesuit, is to always confess it before people. As I said to general Congregation in December of 1971, “the thing that counts is that we really solve to even follow Christ without knowing what sacrifice this what follows certainly of him demand of us. ” For being able to realise this vocation ours, the society must count today in men and in the communities imbuidas with “the mind of Christ” who service Christ without the limit or the reservation, that cheers take lives of the evangelical simplicity and self-sacrifice of continuation, thus offering to our contemporaries an ideal to live, and to the abundant youth of our day a model and a way of life. This one is the true secret of the success in our mission in the church. This one will be the source of new vocations: “the blood of martyrs is the seed of vocations.” This one is the Jesuit that St. Ignatius, that one the Pope, and coverall that the eternal king today wishes to find in each of us.

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Prayer: Aloysius Gonzaga, S.J.

By Admin

Aug

16

May the comfort and grace of the Holy Spirit be yours forever, most honored Lady. You letter found me lingering still in this region of the dead, but now I must rouse myself to make my way on to heaven at last and to praise God forever in the land of the living; indeed I had hoped that before this time my journey there would have been over. If charity, as Saint Paul says, means to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who are glad, then, dearest mother, you shall rejoice exceedingly that God in his grace and his love for you is showing me the path to true happiness, and assuring me that I shall never lose him. The divine goodness, most honored lady, is a fathomless and shoreless ocean, and I confess that when I plunge my mind into thought of this it is carried away by the immensity and feels quite lost and bewildered there. In return for my short and feeble labors, God is calling me to eternal rest; his voice from heaven invites me to the infinite bliss I have sought so languidly, and promises me this reward for the tears I have so seldom shed. Take care above all things, most honored lady, not to insult God’s boundless loving kindness; you would certainly do this if you mourned as dead one living face to face with God, one whose prayers can bring you in your troubles more powerful aid than they ever could on earth. And our parting will not be for long; we shall see each other again in heaven; we shall be united with our Savior; there we shall praise him with heart and soul, sing of his mercies forever, and enjoy eternal happiness. When he takes away what he once lent us, his purpose is to store our treasure elsewhere more safely and bestow on us those very blessings that we ourselves would most choose to have. I write all this with the one desire that you and all my family may consider my departure a joy and favor and that you especially may speed with a mother’s blessing my passage across the waters till I reach the shore to which all hopes belong. I write the more willingly because I have no clearer way of expressing the love and respect I owe you as your son.

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Prayer: Anthony de Mello, S.J. – in a loss for the words

By Admin

Aug

15

Dag Hammarskjold, the former UN Secretary-General, put it so beautifully: “God does not die on the day we cease to believe in a personal deity. But we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance of wonder renewed daily, the source of which is beyond all reason.” We don’t have to quarrel about a word, because “God” is only a word, a concept. One never quarrels about reality; we only quarrel about opinions, about concepts, about judgments. Drop your concepts, drop your opinions, drop your prejudices, drop your judgments, and you will see that. ” Quia de deo scire non possumus quid sit, sed quid non sit, non possumus considerare de deo, quomodo sit sed quomodo non sit .” This is St. Thomas Aquinas’ introduction to his whole Summa Theologica: “Since we cannot know what God is, but only what God is not, we cannot consider how God is but only how He is not.” I have already mentioned Thomas’ commentary on Boethius’ De Sancta Trinitate , where he says that the loftiest degree of the knowledge of God is to know God as the unknown, tamquam ignotum. And in his Questio Disputata de Potentia Dei , Thomas says, “This is what is ultimate in the human knowledge of God — to know that we do not know God.” This gentleman was considered the prince of theologians. He was a mystic, and is a canonized saint today. We’re standing on pretty good ground. In India, we have a Sanskrit saying for this kind of thing: ” neti, neti .” It means: “not that, not that.” Thomas’ own method was referred to as the via negativa , the negative way. C. S. Lewis wrote a diary while his wife was dying. It’s called A Grief Observed. He had married an American woman whom he loved dearly. He told his friends, “God gave me in my sixties what He denied me in my twenties.” He hardly had married her when she died a painful death of cancer. Lewis said that his whole faith crumbled, like a house of cards. Here he was the great Christian apologist, but when disaster struck home, he asked himself, “Is God a loving Father or is God the great vivisectionist?” There’s pretty good evidence for both! I remember that when my own mother got cancer, my sister said to me, “Tony, why did God allow this to happen to Mother?” I said to her, “My dear, last year a million people died of starvation in China because of the drought, and you never raised a question.” Sometimes the best thing that can happen to us is to be awakened to reality, for calamity to strike, for then we come to faith, as C. S. Lewis did. He said that he never had any doubts before about people surviving death, but when his wife died, he was no longer certain. Why? Because it was so important to him that she be living. Lewis, as you know, is the master of comparisons and analogies. He says, “It’s like a rope. Someone says to you, ‘Would this bear the weight of a hundred twenty pounds?’ You answer, ‘Yes.’ ‘Well, we’re going to let down your best friend on this rope.’ Then you say, ‘Wait a minute, let me test that rope again.’ You’re not so sure now.” Lewis also said in his diary that we cannot know anything about God and even our questions about God are absurd. Why? It’s as though a person born blind asks you, “The color green, is it hot or cold?” Neti, neti, not that. “Is it long or is it short?” Not that. “Is it sweet or is it sour?” Not that. “Is it round or oval or square?” Not that, not that. The blind person has no words, no concepts, for a color of which he has no idea, no intuition, no experience. You can only speak to him in analogies. No matter what he asks, you can only say, “Not that.” C.S. Lewis says somewhere that it’s like asking how many minutes are in the color yellow. Everybody could be taking the question very seriously, discussing it, fighting about it. One person suggests there are twenty-five carrots in the color yellow, the other person says, “No, seventeen potatoes,” and they’re suddenly fighting. Not that, not that! This is what is ultimate in our human knowledge of God, to know that we do not know. Our great tragedy is that we know too much. We think we know, that is our tragedy; so we never discover. In fact, Thomas Aquinas (he’s not only a theologian but also a great philosopher) says repeatedly, “All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.”

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Prayer: Alfred Delp, S.J. (martyr in the hands of Nazi Germany)

By Admin

Aug

14

On the 15 of August it was in the edge of the desperation. They beat to me and later they were returned brutal cell takes in the evening. The protectors who accompanied to me left me with these words: “You will not sleep tonight. You can request so much as you wish but ninguÌ  n God or angel will come to give to him. , Nevertheless, we will sleep well and be early morning ready to work in you with renewed force. ” How memory that night in which I requested to God death, because it could continue not more. I was incapable to take to such cross and situation for above against such violence. All night I fought with God and I cried before him in my misery. But it was not still the morning in which a deep peace surrounded to me – the light, the value, and the great force clear made to consider my to have to me, `to hold, ‘and it brought this hope to me, “that you will hold. ”

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The twentieth Sunday of the ordinary time

By Admin

Aug

14

August 15, 2010 An apocryphal text from the Book of Revelation shouts out the message to the faithful believers who are under threat of persecution that the kingdom of the Christ has begun. Though many readers may attribute the “woman” in the text to be Mary, the Mother of God, the “woman” is more probably in reference to the nation and people of Israel, who gives birth through its pains to the Messiah. The huge red dragon that is ready to devour the newborn is most likely a foreign nation that has conquered the nations of the earth and threatens Israel, sending her into the desert for safety. However, with all that said, it is comforting for many to read this as Mary’s protective care of her son who would become the Messiah. In apocryphal language, it is also consoling to consider Mary’s protective concern for us who are left on this earth subject to the great forces of evil that threaten our lives and stability. Mary’s joyful song at the dawn of her motherhood is a preview of what God will do for all humankind and it is sung on this day as a way of showing that God was true to Mary’s belief about the Lord. For her fidelity to her vocation, God rewarded her in a way that truly lifts up the lowly. She is able to express the heart of God poetically to reveal God’s overarching preferential concern for us who are the poor of the world. Her magnificat previews the order and structure of life in God’s kingdom. The beauty of Mary’s life was that she lived a completely earthly life as mother of Jesus, which caused her to continuously outwardly extend her compassionate care for others. In the Gospel we see her rejoicing with Elizabeth about their common experience of pregnancy. Though there were divine interventions in their situations, their experiences of pregnancy were fully human and they praised God for the sacred reality that is motherhood. By cherishing what was fully human, they were able to find God in the midst of it. For her fidelity, Mary is said to have been assumed body and soul into heaven like other holy men of the Jewish Scriptures. We struggle over what this really means for our salvation and we ponder what our own resurrection means. I wrestle with this particularly this week as I reflect upon the tragic death of my cousin’s 16 year old son. We Christians place our hope in the resurrected life that allows us to live in a world that is both ‘now and one that is to come.’ We know that death of a loved one still hurts. We also know Christ has destroyed death and precedes us into the everlasting kingdom, and while that is enough for us, it is consoling to know that Mary, who bridged his world with the next by her assumption, is with her Son and Lord in the eternal kingdom watching over us and making sure that we continue to escape the grips of the evil one. I know for my part, I want to belong to Christ so I may join him in the life that is to come. Quote for the Week To celebrate Mary’s principal feast, I attach a poem called “Mother and Maiden,” Anonymous, early 16th century I sing of a maiden that is matchless. King of all kings for her son she chose. He came all so still where his mother was, As dew in April that falleth on the grass. He came all so still to his mother’s bower, As dew in April that falleth on the flower. He came all so still – There his mother lay, As dew in April that falleth on the spray. Mother and maiden was never none but she; Well may such a lady God’s mother be. Themes for this Week’s Masses First Reading: Ezekiel’s wife, the delight of his eyes, died and he remained faithful to the instructions of the Lord to refrain from mourning. The prophet is instructed to tell the prince of Tyre that he is merely a man and not a god and that the foreigners will rise up against him to put him in his rightful place. Ezekiel then tells the leaders of Israel that they have not been true shepherds so God will come against these shepherds and God will save the sheep from those selfish shepherds. To prove God’s holiness, he will take the sheep of his flock and will sprinkle clean water on them to cleanse them of all their impurities. In his prophecy Ezekiel is brought to a field of dry bones that upon hearing the word of the Lord are brought back from the grave. He then finds himself at the East Gate of the Temple where the Lord makes a magnificent entrance and God declares “this is where my throne shall be.” Gospel: Jesus has compassion on the young man who approaches him with a desire to enter into eternal life, but walks away saddened when he cannot live up to the demands of discipleship. The disciples of Jesus are perplexed because they wonder if they will be saved. Jesus replies that the one who has given up everything for the kingdom will inherit eternal life. Jesus tells a difficult parable about workers at a vineyard who arrive late to begin work and get the same wage as those who have toiled laboriously from the beginning. Though it may seem unfair, the kingdom is open to all. He tells another parable to the chief priests and elders about the wedding feast for the king’s son in which messengers went out in search of guests. One ill-attired guest was chastised for not properly being disposed for such a wedding and was cast into darkness. The Pharisees set out to test Jesus and asked him about the greatest commandments. Jesus addresses the audience by telling them to beware of the actions of the Pharisees but to follow their words. Saints of the Week Monday: Stephen of Hungary , became the first King of Hungary and is responsible for uniting the Magyars, of which he is a member of one of the families. He established the church in Hungary under the direction of Pope Sylvester II. Stephen reformed the government, trained priests, built churches, and initiated programs that care for the poor. Wednesday: Alberto Hurtado, priest , was a Chilean Jesuit priest who was a lawyer, social worker, writer, and founder of Hogar de Christo that provided shelters for children in need of food and safety. Inspired by Catholic social teaching, he entered the labor movement where he combined intellectual reflection with practical actions. Thursday: John Eudes, priest , became an Oratorian in 1623 and spent years in pastoral work while helping women found a new religious congregation called Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge, which has several spin-off congregations. John founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary in 1643 that was set up to train clergy. Friday: Bernard, Abbot and Doctor , entered the Benedictine order at age 22 and was appointed abbot of a new monastery in Clairvoux three years later. His strict observance of monastic life dominated the religious life of Western Europe. He wrote many letters, treatises, sermons and commentaries that helped define Catholic Europe. Saturday: Pius X, pope , was elected to the papacy in 1903 and is known for his strict interpretations of doctrine. He encouraged pious devotions and frequent reception of communion for adults. This Week in Jesuit History · Aug 15, 1821. Fr. Peter DeSmet sailed from Amsterdam to America. He hoped to work among the Native Americans. He became the best known missionary of the northwest portion of the United States. · Aug. 15, 1955: The Wisconsin Province was formed from the Missouri Province and the Detroit Province was formed from the Chicago province. · Aug. 16, 1649: At Drogheda, Fr. John Bath and his brother, a secular priest, were shot in the marketplace by Cromwell’s soldiers. · Aug. 17, 1823: Fr. Van Quickenborne and a small band of missionaries descended the Missouri River to evangelize the Indians at the request of the bishop of St. Louis. On this date in 1829, the College of St. Louis opened. · Aug. 18, 1952: The death of Alberto Hurtado, writer, retreat director, trade unionist and founder of El Hogar de Christo, a movement to help the homeless in Chile. · Aug. 19, 1846: At Melgar, near Burgos, the birth of Fr. Luis Martin, 24th General of the Society. · Aug. 20, 1891: At Santiago, Chile, the government of Balmaceda ordered the Jesuit College to be closed. · Aug. 21, 1616: At Pont a Mousson in Lorraine died Fr. William Murdoch, a Scotsman, who when only 10 years of age was imprisoned seven months for the faith and cruelly beaten by the order of a Protestant bishop. St. Ignatius is said to have appeared to him and encouraged him to bear the cross bravely. Vows of Jesuit Novices Jesuit novices from across the U.S. will profess perpetual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience this weekend completing a two-year period of formation and probation. Following vows, most will be sent to a First Studies program in which a Jesuit scholastic will begin philosophy studies. August 15th is the date that Ignatius and his first companions pronounced First Vows at Montmartre outside of Paris following their studies at the University of Paris and before they set out for their intended pilgrimage to the Holy Lands. They chose the Feast of the Assumption to honor Mary, Queen and Mother of the Society. Please pray for the vovendi as they ready themselves to be received as Jesuit scholastics and brothers.

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Prayer: Litany of the names of God of Jose Sobb, S.J.

By Admin

Aug

13

God of Or silence and the tranquillity, you still call to us to be and to know – they spill God of Or of the firm love, its alcohol in our hearts – God him Or of the compassion, its word is our light and hope – God of the fidelity, full you of Or our hearts of joy – God of Or the life and the truth, of you that we received each gift – God of Or the cure and of La Paz, abre you to guess us tolerance – God of Or all the creation, our principle and our end – God of the salvation, you of Or reconcile all the things in Jesus, his son – God of Or Jesus, conceived by the energy of the Spirit Santo – God of Or from Jesus, whom she invites to us, “she comes and she sees” – God of Or Jesus, who was attemped then all we are – God of Or Jesus, who is like us in all the things except sin – God of Or Jesus, who we are its commitment of the love of the saving – God of Or SARAH and Abraham, from that Jesus came, its son – God of Or Ana and Simeon, that recognized Jesus, its son, like Mesías – God of Or Maria, who bores to Jesus, her son – God of Or Jose, whose to paternal care he was trusting Jesus, his son – God of Or all the generations, of all the times and stations and people – God of Or our mothers and parents, of all whom God of Or our past has loved us -; God of our future – God of our present, God of Or Or Or in our present -

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Prayer: Litany of the names of God of Jose Sobb, S.J.

By Admin

Aug

13

God of Or silence and the tranquillity, you still call to us to be and to know – they spill God of Or of the firm love, its alcohol in our hearts – God him Or of the compassion, its word is our light and hope – God of the fidelity, full you of Or our hearts of joy – God of Or the life and the truth, of you that we received each gift – God of Or the cure and of La Paz, abre you to guess us tolerance – God of Or all the creation, our principle and our end – God of the salvation, you of Or reconcile all the things in Jesus, his son – God of Or Jesus, conceived by the energy of the Spirit Santo – God of Or from Jesus, whom she invites to us, “she comes and she sees” – God of Or Jesus, who was attemped then all we are – God of Or Jesus, who is like us in all the things except sin – God of Or Jesus, who we are its commitment of the love of the saving – God of Or SARAH and Abraham, from that Jesus came, its son – God of Or Ana and Simeon, that recognized Jesus, its son, like Mesías – God of Or Maria, who bores to Jesus, her son – God of Or Jose, whose to paternal care he was trusting Jesus, his son – God of Or all the generations, of all the times and stations and people – God of Or our mothers and parents, of all whom God of Or our past has loved us -; God of our future – God of our present, God of Or Or Or in our present -

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Prayer: An interrupted life: The newspapers of Etty Hillesum

By Admin

Aug

12

There is a really deep good within me. And in him God dwells. I am sometimes there also. But more often the stones and the sand block welll, and bury God underneath. Then God must again be excavated. I imagine that there is the people who request with his heavenwards given to return the eyes. They look for God outside themselves. And there are those bend its heads they bury and them in its hands. Fodder that these look for God inside.

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Prayer: Origin

By Admin

Aug

11

The more we go for above and we rose Christward and we expose ourselves to the splendor of its light, the more wonderfully and they will also flood brilliant to us with its brightness.

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Poem: Mother and virginal, anonymous century XVI, early

By Admin

Aug

10

Song of a maid that is incomparable. King of all the kings for its son who she chose. It so still came all where she was his mother, like dew in April that falleth in the grass. It so still came all to the public square from his mother, like dew in April that falleth in the flower. It so still came all – there his endecha from the mother, like dew in April that falleth in the aerosol. The mother and the maid never were no but she; The well can such mother of Mrs. God be.

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Espiritualidad: Desires within the spiritual exercises

By Admin

Aug

9

Desires or the tolerance for which we requested in the spiritual exercises are: • It requests a growth and an intense pain and rasgones my sins; • It requests a deep sense of the pain that the lost ones suffer, which if due to my failures forgetfulness the love of the eternal gentleman, at least the fear to fall in sin; • It requests of our gentleman the tolerance to not being deaf to his call, but and soon diligent to obtain his will more santa• It requests an intimate knowledge of our gentleman, who has made a man for me, which I can love it more and follow it more close by; • It requests the knowledge of the engan@os of the rebellious head and helps to keep against them; and also to request a knowledge of the exemplified true life in the sovereign and true commander, and the tolerance to imitate it; • It requests the tolerance to choose which is more for the glory of its divine Majesty and the salvation of my soul; • Deign requests to God our gentleman to move my will, and to bring it mind what I must do in this matter that would be more for its praise and glory; • It requests pain, the compassion, and the shame because the gentleman goes to his sufferings for my sins; • It requests pain with Christ in pain, anguish with Christ in anguish, rasgones and the deep pain due to the great affliction Christ holds for me; • It requests the tolerance to be glad and to enjoy intense due to the great joy and the glory Christ the gentleman.

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