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Spiritual Zen
A spiritual path towards enlightenment.
Feb
28
Maris Stella, Dei Mater Soul, carries of coeli of Virgofelix of semper of atque, Amen.Hail, stars of the avenue of the sea, own considered mother more, you of God you were never a virgin; The rightest door of the sky. Amen.
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Feb
27
How the fair is thy expensive, right, yea Yea, just; Son of God, prince of thousands of thousands of tolerance! Thousands of Or my Shulamite, good candy and, class of the Yea, king of the yea, everything that it has is also friend of Thine.My, mine of the art of thousands. Mine of the Yea, mine of the yea; I always stop for déjeme is canst of Thin.Thou except, canst I except. The Yea saves, yea except, both here in the Earth and ‘yond the tomb. It remembers my hardship, hardship of the Yea, hardship of the yea; Around me the hostile flash of the swords shining, flies here, the dove of the tolerance, dove of the tolerance, to accelerated rate, accelerated rate! Between rocks they are La Paz and the space.
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Feb
26
“People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them.” Touch is essential to grow and to sustain life, but it is, so to say, a touchy subject. A touch can communicate so many messages, and we in the church are afraid to do it in the wake of the professional boundaries established since before the sex abuse crisis. We read this passage and we see the enviable freedom possessed by Jesus to greet these young children and embrace them. We yearn for those days when we can just be naturally good to one another and find blessings in our innocence. We come on retreat because we want Christ to touch our hearts meaningfully. We want to go to him in a familiar way and with ease so he can lay his hands upon us and heal us, or affirm us, or as a display of affection and intimacy. We want to run unimpeded to him because he is attractive. He is our God and brother. But so many obstacles can get in our way and though we reach for him, and he reaches back, we can’t always make that point of contact with him that satisfies our desires. We continue to try because he is the one who makes sense of everything. The Gospel tells us the disciples rebuked the children who sought Jesus, who rightly became indignant. It is ironic that such a simple act of goodness can be rebuffed so quickly by those who are on the same side as us. We might expect it from our opponents, but it stings all the more when it happens from our friends, family, and colleagues. You would think they would want the best for us. I’m sure you have had many times when you offered a suggestion based on kind generosity and it was slapped down by a technicality from a colleague or friend. You wonder if they really heard the good intent and the real meaning of your message. It can be discouraging if others are closed to its potential of creating good. We too can close down parts of the relationship without realizing we are doing it. We defeat ourselves unknowingly and it baffles us. Addictions, family formation, and learned behaviors stop us from reaching our potential. It is best if we begin by paying attention to our language because it is fundamental to all relationships. To speak judiciously and prudentially is a gift from God. When God speaks, God creates. Therefore, we can learn the same patterns of speaking. If we are not creating some good when we speak, we might want to consider what we need to do first in order to speak well. I often hear people say that they cannot hear God speak and that they don’t really ask for what they want and need. We essentially don’t change the way we speak to God from the way we speak to others. If we don’t speak up in front of others, we are not likely to speak up in front of God. We feel terrible if a person speaks over us, cuts us off, is dismissive, or has an angry tone. We sometimes do it to others, and it has negative consequences on the relationship, especially that it inhibits growth in one’s comprehension and enrichment. If we know we do this to others, chances are we do it to God as well. When we speak, it is better if we allow for greater amounts of silence. In this way, we refrain from assuming we know what the other person is thinking or feeling. Let them tell you. If we don’t give the person freedom to fully speak, we shut the person down. Many retreatants will say, “I know what God will say so I don’t bother to ask.” We shortchange and limit God. Let’s give God a chance to speak. Get into the habit of saying “yes” in prayer. We tell God “no” all the time in our prayer. We communicate it through words like ‘can’t’ or ‘not yet’, tone of voice, body language, avoidance, and our daily choices. We choose not to trust. We are unprepared to truly comprehend what God asks of us. We hold onto our attachments and feelings longer than God wants and we negate God’s true intentions for us. Many of us have the experience of keeping God at bay because we are not ready to accept what God has to say. We serve ourselves best when we wonder, “Am I closing myself to God’s graces? How can I encourage my openness? Do I give God permission to speak openly?” “Am I acting in freedom?” We often don’t honor our feelings. If we don’t pay attention to our feelings, they are going to come out sideways. We might find we are grouchy, sarcastic, passive-aggressive, or somehow destructive to another person if we do not own what is happening to us emotionally. We win when we acknowledge our feelings and desires. Narcissists and sociopaths cannot respond to true human feelings. Everyone else will acknowledge the very human emotions that are swirling around inside of you. Bringing them out in a healthily helps us build confidence in our identity. It builds esteem and creates goodwill. We move onwards and upwards when we speak of our emotions. and we sanctify another person when we respect one’s emotions. Our intent is to build up, to create anew, and to enhance. We have too many complex ways that we keep ourselves cut off from Christ and cannot feel his touch, and it is what we crave most. We want an experience of God that is so real that it is engraved upon on hearts and it becomes a touchstone for us. Many doubt that we can feel his physical presence. I suggest we simply ask for what we want and know that it can happen. Ignatius of Loyola in The Spiritual Exercises asks the retreatants to beg, to actually beg, for a particular grace for ourselves. Too often we pray only for others and neglect our own needs. God wants to be generous to us. We have to give way to let God absolutely spoil us. Ask for what you want. Beg for it. And though we strongly beg, God enters our world in gentle surprising ways. And if you don’t know what you want yet, and that’s O.K. It takes time to sort it out, just pray that you can run to Jesus like the little children so that he might touch you, wipe away a tear, hold your hand, or touch your heart. Pray that he remove any obstacles that prohibit you from reaching him. It is not within your power to remove those obstacles. It is better off in his hands. Ask him what needs to be taken away so you may reach him to feel the full extent of his embrace. When you approach him, let him hold you and gaze in wonder upon your face. Let him just marvel at your beauty, both inside and out. Let him greet you, his good friend, again in a blessing with arms outstretched that says, “I’ve missed you. Welcome back. Let me just hold you for a while. That’s all I want.”
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Feb
25
The truly affectionate person breathes in the pain the world and breathes outside towards the compassion.
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Feb
24
Within the flower a seed lies, within the seed loosen a tree there, within the tree separates a wood there. In the wood burning fire a fire, and in the fire melts a stone, within the stone a ring of the iron. Within the ring it lies Or, within Or watches an eye, in the eye there nothing a sea, and in the sea it reflected the sky, and in the sky it shines the sun, within the sun a bird of gold. Within the bird it beats a heart, and of the heart it flows a song, and in the song it sings a word there. In the word a world speaks, world of the joy, a world of A of the pain, the joy and the pain loosen my love there. Oh the love, my love, loosen a world there, and in the world a sun shines, and in the sun burning fire a fire, within the fire consumes my heart, and in my heart it beats a bird, and in the bird it wakes up an eye there, within the eye, the Earth, the sea and the sky, the Earth, the sky and the sea within a OLie like the seed within flower.?
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Feb
23
Many of us wonder on sky. We asked ourselves who will be in sky and who cannot be admitted. We asked ourselves if it is a place and what elements could be included in him. It even exists, and if it is as well as? Which we will be as we obtained once there? What we hoped to find? In the light of its reflection, which is their hopes and expectations of the sky?
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Feb
23
February 27, 2011 Isaiah 49:14-15; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34 It is difficult to trust in God. If God felt more real and more accessible to us, more would trust with greater ease. Psalm 62 is the great song of trust in God in whom our souls can find rest. Matthew’s Gospel reminds us that we need to make a basic decision to love God above all things and all other things insofar as they fit into that basic love. We are to steer clear of idol worship because an idol is anything or anyone who stands between us and God. Matthew takes some time to help us focus on how to consider our earthly anxieties and God’s care for us. We typically think of our basic human needs as eating, drinking, clothing and shelter, and most of us have tended to those conditions satisfactorily. Many, however, still live on a delicate plane of existence when missing a paycheck means falling into dire levels of poverty. Life on the edge is uncomfortable and anxiety producing. Each of us, regardless of wealth and perceived security, has the same basic needs. We want interpersonal connection with others (belonging, appreciation, companionship, intimacy, mutuality, respect, trust, and to be understood.) We want physical well-being like exercise, good food, rest/sleep, sexual expression, shelter, and touch. Honesty, play, peace, and a healthy level of autonomy (choice, freedom) are necessities for a joyful life. We search for meaning where we seek to know if we matter to others. This is expressed through our creativity, generativity, purpose, growth, and the ways we celebrate life. Jesus is telling us that we are not to be absorbed by or preoccupied with these matters because God will provide for even our most basic needs. God’s parental care gives us hope in God’s providence. Our faith is rooted in our special relationship with God as we are children of the kingdom of heaven. Our ethical behavior consists in learning the way and the manner in which God loves and preserves creation. The crucial part of the teaching of Jesus in this passage is that we are to seek first the kingdom of God and along with it, God’s justice. This is the most important activity of our lives. It causes us to be concerned, not for our own welfare, but for others who are at the fragile margins of society. We cannot have the kingdom of heaven without justice because this is not only God’s justice, but also a justice that we are able to produce on earth ourselves. Seeking the kingdom of heaven helps us to put our actions into perspective. We see that God cares less about our accomplishments than for our development of ethical relationships with others. It becomes much less about what we can do or who we can become, but about who we presently are and the way we have chosen to live in God’s world. We become preoccupied with matters that are out of our control and we dupe ourselves to think we can provide for our needs. Relax. Enjoy life with its vulnerabilities and fragility. We lack control over the main parts of life. God will care for us in a greater way than a mother cares for her infant. God pledges never to forget us. We might as well let go of our worry and give ourselves to a great trust in God, who alone can give our souls rest and who alone can provide for our deep happiness. Themes for this Week’s Masses First Reading: The Book of Sirach beckons penitents to return to God. The dead cannot praise God; this is the appointed time to renew your relationship with God. The one who is just will reap the blessings of the Lord. The just one keeps the law, does works of charity, refrains from evil, and makes appropriate sacrifices. The God of the universe is the only true God and we beckon the Lord to gather us and protect us. As we recall God’s works, we see glory shining through all his works. The memory of godly people will live on while the others in the world will merely cease to exist in memory. God’s glory, radiating in the virtuous, will never be blotted out. We therefore give thanks to the Lord and we seek God’s wisdom. Wisdom will be our teacher. Gospel: As Jesus sets out, a wealthy man approached him with the question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” After Jesus answered, the man walked away sad because he could not sell his possessions. The perplexed disciples ask, “what about us?” and Jesus replies, “those who have given up everything will receive one hundred times more than what was given away. As the Twelve with Jesus traveled to Jerusalem, John and James asked for the authority to sit at the right hand of God in heaven. The same chalice from which Jesus drinks will be the same one from which the disciples drink. On their way, they meet the blind Bartimaeus who wants his sight restored. He becomes the example of the faithful one who follows Jesus along the way. Jesus went to the Temple area, cursed a fig tree, and overturned the money changers and vendors. Jesus returns once more to the Temple and the authorities ask him about the origin and nature of their power. He does not answer them. Saints of the Week Thursday: Katherine Drexel (1858-1955) was a daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia banker. When her parents died and they left a substantial fortune to her, Katherine joined the Sisters of Mercy. She established schools and missions in the South and on Native America reservations. Friday: Casimir (1458-1484) refused to fight against soldiers from other Christians nations. He was the son of the King of Poland. He also refused to marry Emperor Frederick III’s daughter because he chose a life of celibacy and asceticism. He did bring about governmental reforms that cared more directly for the poor. This Week in Jesuit History • Feb 27, 1767. Charles III banished the Society from Spain and seized its property. • Feb 28, 1957. The Jesuit Volunteer Corps began. • Mar 1, 1549. At Gandia, the opening of a college of the Society founded by St Francis Borgia. • Mar 2, 1606. The martyrdom in the Tower of London of St Nicholas Owen, a brother nicknamed “Little John.” For 26 years he constructed hiding places for priests in homes throughout England. Despite severe torture he never revealed the location of these safe places. • Mar 3, 1595. Clement VIII raised Fr. Robert Bellarmine to the Cardinalate, saying that the Church had not his equal in learning. • Mar 4, 1873. At Rome, the government officials presented themselves at the Professed House of the Gesu for the purpose of appropriating the greater part of the building. • Mar 5, 1887. At Rome, the obsequies of Fr. Beckx who died on the previous day. He was 91 years of age and had governed the Society as General for 34 years. He is buried at San Lorenzo in Campo Verano. February’s Fewer Days It seems to us today that it would be easy to shift some of the seven months with 31 days in it to February in order to round it out. Original Roman calendars did not even have January and February in them. Attempts were made to reconcile the moon’s 29 1/2 day moth with the sun’s 365 1/4 day year. Julius Caesar finally ignored the lunar calendar and got rid of the extra month called Mercedinus that balanced off the days. February wound up with 29 days plus an extra day every fourth year. We use the Julian calendar today. However the Emperor Augustus shifted February 29 to August, the month named after him. It balanced it with July, named after Julius. One recent proposal seeks to make every month have 28 days but to add another month. This would bring the fixed calendar to 364 days, requiring one extra day per year, two during leap years. However, as those before us have recognized, changing a calendar is not easy. New Zealand Relief Christchurch in New Zealand has suffered another terrible earthquake, the second in the past six months. Loss of life and property has been devastating. If you can provide some funds for relief, I provide the following contact information below: Phone 0800 22 10 22 to make credit card donations or Donate online using a credit card at www.caritas.org.nz or Post to Caritas, PO Box 12193, Thorndon, Wellington 6144, New Zealand. Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is a member of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of 165 Catholic aid, development and social justice agencies active in over 200 countries and territories. Prayers for the Middle East The events in northern Africa and the Middle East are certainly filled with tension and hope. We watch expectantly hoping that only the best comes from the demonstrations of people who seek freedom to govern their lives within the best possible civic and religious freedom. It is best not to impose our Western expectations upon them, but to encourage them to find a solution that works well for them and contributes to the build-up of social justice and general welfare of the people. Let’s honor and respect their struggle and encourage them in their efforts to create a better common good.
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Feb
22
Eight days ago, we began this retreat on Valentine’s Day – a day we cherish the love that is around us. We’ve walked through the accounts of Creation, the story of Noah, signs of the covenant, the folly at the Tower of Babel, listening to the distinction between seeing and sight, listening and hearing. We paid attention to what is required for discipleship, the Transfigured Lord, loving one’s enemies, and the necessity of prayer. We heard Mark’s first Passion prediction, and we hear a portion of it again today as we focus on the chair of Peter than guarantees our succession to the Twelve disciples who were Christ’s first friends and witnesses. As we leave here, let’s take stock of the ways our relationship with Christ may have evolved. Jesus asks the question, “Who do you say that I am?” In the Gospel, he is asking Peter and the disciples, but because of its directness, we feel impelled to answer the same question. Perhaps a subtle change has occurred this week that feels significant. Perhaps our image of Christ is secure and the question is less who he is but more about how he is. Maybe you noticed something different about the way that Jesus smiled, or carried himself, or altered his body language or had a change in his tone of voice. And perhaps this caused you to respond to him just a little differently this time, in a way that is more familiar to you. Who is Christ becoming for you? With the backdrop of Valentine’s Day, think back on a time when you realized you realized you were in love. It felt good, didn’t it? And it was confusing and somewhat scary. This other person occupied your thoughts and daydreams and you set out hypothetical plans for your times together. You thought of your moments of intimacy and your desire just to be with the one you found engaging. You probably glowed to your friends and you went through your day a little lighter. Amazing. The person you found attractive was likewise interested in you. Your whole life shifted as you oriented your schedule around your friend. But the moment you knew that would probably come may have seized you with fear. You felt vulnerable – the moment you heard or uttered the life-changing words, “I love you.” It was terrifying because you meant it and so much of your life was staked on it. You knew that these words would fundamentally change your life. Even if you have never been able to speak these words with your voice, you may have come to say them interiorly. Words like these are to be shared. To speak the words, “I love you” creates an interior realignment, a quake, inside of us. To have them received by the one we love places us at the fringes of vulnerability. If our beloved accepts them and honors our affection, nothing can tear us down from the ceiling because we are flying so high. To hear our beloved say, “I love you too” makes our heart explode. What a feeling. We can scarcely contain our astonishment. Falling in love changes everything. These are the words Christ speaks to us today. He has been with his disciples for a while and has showered them with acts of kindness and charity. Their friendship has grown to the point where he wants to see where he stands with them, and they with him. So he asks them, “Who do you say that I am?” He really means, ‘I’ve been with you all this time and I’ve constantly given myself to you. I’ve cared for you as best I can. I’ve stood by you and my heart has led me to surprising places in life, and you have been a big part of it. I’ve shown you in so many ways my love for you, and I want to know personally, honestly, “Who am I to you? Do you love me?”‘ He is standing there at risk awaiting your response. He wants you to respond in truth. How are you able to answer? It is something special to know Christ yearns deeply for you. It is what we have come to experience this week, and still he wants an answer to his question. He doesn’t want you to leave without answering him. He doesn’t want it expressed in church-language, or the customary ordinary responses we give to the Son of God. He wants us to answer honestly based on our experiences with him. He wants our true selves to answer the question – from one friend to another – an answer that arises from one’s shared life from the deepest core of our soul. But we know we have to be careful. Shallow words won’t do. A trite answer is a travesty. Maybe we can’t answer as we would like yet. Maybe we are fundamentally disposed to him, but find ourselves unsettled with him or unable to trust him because we have been burned once before. Maybe we can’t let ourselves be vulnerable. Maybe we can’t be intimate. Maybe no one has ever told us how beautiful we are and we don’t know how to receive plain old love. However you respond, Christ wants your honest answer. He won’t turn away from you. He can’t because he yearns for you too much. Beware of your answer! It may change you. If you are able to reply, “I love you,” your head will have to follow your heart. Other parts of your being will follow suit. Allow Christ to reply to your response. If he says “I love you” to you, know that something fundamental inside him will change too. It is staggering to know Jesus Christ, Lord of the Universe, falls in love with us. We need time to accept this. We need time to savor it. We need our personal quiet time to enter the stillness to let his love permeate throughout our lives. His love brings forth our greater love. As you head back to your regular life today, think for a few minutes on what has happened with you this week. Maybe something did change within you interiorly – maybe it was seismic, perhaps it was just a subtle shift. In a few moments, we will be at the Table of our Lord. Let’s take the graces we have received this week and offer them back to him. In a few moments, he will demonstrate to us how much he loves us – as individuals and as a people. As he gives himself to us, reflect upon the ways you might respond to his banquet of love. We may be ready to leave the retreat, but he stands in front of us awaiting our answer. Upon Peter’s answer, he built the church. Your answer may sustain it.
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Feb
22
A day the master asked, “which, in its opinion, is most important of all the religious questions” He secured many answers: “For a God they have been existing” “Who is God” “Which is the trajectory to God” “There is a life after the death” “No,” the master said. “The most important question is: “Who I am? ” “The disciples secured a certain idea than he made reference to when they by chance heard speaking with a preacher: Master: “So then, according to you, when you die his soul is in sky” Preacher: “Yes.” Master: “And its body will be in the tomb” Preacher: “Yes.” Master: “And where, I can ask, you you will be”
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Feb
21
In order to know itself he has been always greatest of all the lessons. For, if we know ourselves, we will know God.And, knowing God, we we will become like God.
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Feb
20
God says, according to the author of Leviticus, “be holy, for I the Lord, your God, am holy.” Then Jesus says, in the Gospel according to Matthew, “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It makes me wonder what it means for us to be holy or perfect today. I wonder how to live according to these ideals that seem far too remote for me. A good friend of mine recently quipped, “just use Luke’s definition. He uses the words ‘compassion’ or ‘merciful.’” But as I looked through various translation, Matthew stays with the word ‘perfect’ when he has other choices available. Some translations use the words ‘blameless’ or ‘holy.’ Luke stresses covenant fidelity and steadfast love, but it is good to wrestle with the word ‘perfect’ as none of us can be that. Perfection may mean conformity to a divine ideal or that the perfect person is the one who completely observes the whole law – a Matthean concept. ‘Perfect’ at least encompasses the other terms as well. It is full and rich. At dinner the other night, I asked the directors how they interpret the word ‘perfect.’ I received no theological insights because we applied the term to desserts, but I received an answer that fit just right. “Perfect” means “it fits me just right.” This definition is sensible to me. When Fr. Richard talked about the chocolate cake being ‘perfect’ for him, no other dessert could substitute for his desires. When Fr. Paul said, “the date-filled cookie is just right for me,” he could not be swayed at all to take the pumpkin cupcake that was less than perfect for him. Fr. John was not satisfied when Sr. Gail offered him the other half of her dessert. He wanted a whole one. Complete. Perfection after all may not be this Platonic, classicist ideal that is unchanging and outside of our grasp. Perhaps, it is something that suits us just right and we know it in innately when we experience it. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us about the model behavior we are to strive for in settling disputes and reconciling with enemies. His strategy avoids litigation and shames his opponent into a change of heart thereby creating an atmosphere of kindness, patience, generosity, and an open attitude towards all people. I don’t like the shame part, but his methodology has been effective in human history with people like Mahatma Gandhi, the civil rights disobedience marches, and the contemporary demonstrations in Egypt. Loving one’s enemies creates a moral heroism while honoring the other person. It illustrates that another way, a loftier way, exists for solving daily problems. The long-term strategy of Jesus is set within the wisdom of love: If you love those who love you, your reward is an increase in their love. If you love those who hate you, your reward is an increase in God’s love. God’s love is the one that endures and will ultimately be the one that becomes most visible to all. Most of us want to avoid conflict and we try subtle ways of dropping hints so we stay clear of direct confrontation. We despise the anticipated terror that comes with it. We predict that someone will act irrationally and will hurt us and others. We fear we might get hit with a lawsuit. We want peace at all costs. Most of us have someone with whom we are not squared away with. Sometimes this person becomes our opponent, even if they are in our own family. It is part of our human condition. We will feel a plethora of negative emotions around the way this person treats us. We may respond with less than admirable statements and actions. We don’t feel good when that happens and it eats away at our peace in our unconsciousness. We don’t recognize the depths of the insidiousness. We try to rid ourselves of those negative feelings because a Christian is not to feel this way. Many times we wonder what it is that we did to cause this situation. Our boundaries have been transgressed by another. We lose confidence and a healthy image of ourselves erodes. This way is not perfect. This way does not fit us. The way of Jesus often seems unattainable when we find ourselves mired in our mess of negative feelings. The last thing we want to do is to give our opponents a victory. How can we ever come to love them? We first have to do our interior work. We have to open our mind, heart, will, and memory to Christ so he can have something to say. We need to give Christ freedom – a little bit of room to wiggle around inside our chaos. We have to permit him to touch our memories, to touch our basic human needs so he can reassure us that we will be safe and secure in his abiding presence. We need to see the possibility that we have judged as best we could with the information given to us, made the most loving choices in freedom, and that we desire the best for ourselves and our adversaries. We need to be heard; as does our opponent. We also need to see where we failed and have done wrong. That’s O.K. Our sins have been forgiven. Let’s accept that fact. But we need to see that we have bothered to try to love the other person, and that we essentially want to be loved. When Christ helps us with our wrestling, he can help us love better and see our situation and circumstances through a whole different lens – through the wisdom of love. Love begets love. We began this retreat on Valentine’s day – the grand day of love. Look at the ways your love has grown throughout this week. Perhaps you love yourself better. Perhaps you allow God to care for you and cherish you more. Perhaps a tension you have been carrying has less weight. Bravo! This is perfect. It all fits is Christ’s plan for the wisdom of love. You are doing well. When we feel these things, we know the hope and possibility that one day we can love our opponents. We know that it is the healthier, life-giving course for us. We know that something inside of us clicks – even if we can never put our finger on what it is. Christ’s finger has already been placed there. All we have to do is trust in his love for us. His love allows our love to grow. Our love allows others to grow. Loving someone else changes you – for the better. You know it fits. When we have come to the point when we love our opponents, to look upon them with honor, compassion, mercy, and understanding, we feel jubilant because God’s plan truly is perfect. It fits us. This is the way life should be. This is what we dreamed about. This is how life is meant to be. Christ’s love, along with our love, can bring this about. However, this perfection is not just the dessert, it is the whole healthy, life-sustaining meal given to us to make us perfect. Let’s eat of this meal that he offers us at his table of love. It suits us just right.
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Feb
20
[26] [in Manresa] he passed a portion of its time in the aid of the souls that came to him for the advice. [50] When Ignatius understood that God did not wish it to remain in Jerusalem,… the plan that it approved and adopted was to begin a course of the study stops to be been possible better to save souls. [63] When Ignatius heard the fleeting judgment on and its companions [in Alcala], he was in a loss which to do, because it saw the very small occasion advance the salvation of souls. [70] Although Ignatius was little arranged to accept the oration, because…… they came up to attend its neighbor, he declared that it would put under while it remained in Salamanca… [Only he] considered a loss of hour to remain in Salamanca, as the restriction put envelope he avoided that it attended for whose salvation that he wished to work. [71] Its step following era to find a certain order where the primitive fervor had not relaxed, as it felt that there it would be safer to satisfy his desire with the another suffering and to attend spiritual taking, for the love of God, any injury or the insult to which he can be that he is held. [85] All [the first companions] had determined by then in their future conduct, that is to say, to go first a Venice, and then to Jerusalem, where they would pass its all the life in souls of aid. [98] After its return to Rome, he worked for the aid of souls.
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Feb
19
It does not have to be the blue diaphragm. It can be a bad grass, in a vacant lotor some small stones: hardly attention of the payment…
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Feb
18
This email/blog posting is available now on Wednesdays. Shall I post it on Fridays as usual or post it earlier in the wek so you can prepare for the Sunday readings earlier? February 20, 2011 Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-8; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48 Jesus elevates his rhetoric in the Sermon on the Mount when he speaks about moral behaviors towards one’s adversaries. Retaliation and love of neighbors are sensitive subjects especially when cast in light of an honor-shame society. He sets about a strategy for winning the longer term victory rather than advocating passive resignation or indifference to evil. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther took similar actions to morally resist the systemic structures of their day. While the law of retaliation (an eye for an eye) sounds primitive to us today, it was meant as a humanitarian gesture to limit revenge. The measure was to be fair and balanced and it was a sign of moral progress. Rabbis in the days of Jesus thought they ‘eye for an eye’ was already too strict and they converted the penalties into fines rather than taking away one’s property. Jesus takes it a step farther when he avoids exacting physical damage. Rather, his strategy avoids litigation and shames his opponent into a change of heart. It creates an atmosphere of kindness, patience, generosity, and an open attitude towards all people. Combined with his position on the love of enemy, Jesus advances the thinking of settling disputes. The policy of unlimited revenge gives way to limited revenge. It then progresses to the silver rule (don’t do to others what you would not want to have them do to you) to the more positive golden rule. The piece Jesus adds, “loving one’s enemies” creates a moral heroism and reverence. It stuns one’s opponents and illustrates that another way, a loftier way, exists for solving daily problems. Loving one’s enemy prevents a quandary for one’s opponent, especially if it is a government. Early Christian martyrs gave their oppressors a bad conscience. The martyr became a hero while the persecutor became the villain. Curiously, this strategy sets out a plan according to the wisdom of love. If you love those who love you, your reward is an increase in their love. If you love those who hate you, your reward is an increase in God’s love. God’s love endures and will ultimately be the one that is most visible. In Matthew’s account, Jesus exhorts his followers to be ‘perfect’ as his Father is perfect. Some translations use the words ‘blameless’ or ‘holy’ and Luke uses ‘merciful.’ Luke stresses covenant fidelity and steadfast love, but it is good to wrestle with the word ‘perfect’ as none of us can be that. (We certainly have not learned healthy ways of dealing with our anger.) Perfection may mean conformity to the divine ideal or that the perfect person is the one who observes the whole law – a Matthean concept. Perfect would at least encompass the other terms as well. We are best when we try to love others the way God loves us. It is expansive and allows for greater comprehension of the mystery of human behavior. Be perfect. It certainly elevates our thinking – even though we cannot actualize it. It does make us more divine and a marvel to behold. Our opponents may be startled. God may be startled too. I can only imagine we will only increase God’s perfect love for us. Themes for this Week’s Masses First Reading: The Book of Sirach speaks of the primacy of Wisdom as one who was created by God and was with God from the beginning. Wisdom breathes life into her children and admonishes those who seek her. Those who love her, the Lord loves. Relying upon wealth or power provides nothing that lasts. Trust in the Lord. Do not put off your conversion for the Lord is here to help you. Wisdom is like a faithful friend who will make your journey easier. Befriending Wisdom is a life-saving remedy. Her friendship is beyond price. Through Wisdom God created the world and made humans in God’s own image. God bestowed many blessings upon humanity and has made a covenant with them. Gospel: After the Transfiguration, the disciples of Jesus tried to cure a boy possessed with a mute spirit. The disciples were unable to heal him and exorcise the demon, but Jesus does it immediately. He tells the disciples that only prayer and faith can help the boy, to which they respond, “help my unbelief.” When his disciples see others driving out demons in the name of Jesus, he tells them they are on the same side. He then tells of the conditions for discipleship and demands that they do not lead anyone to sin. They are to act like the salt of the world. Jesus returned to Judea and was tested again by the Pharisees about marriage and divorce. Jesus brings the question, not to the particulars, but to the attitudes that cause sin and division. Children were brought to Jesus. He welcomed them heartily and warmly because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Saints of the Week Monday: Peter Damian, bishop and doctor (1007-1072) of Ravenna, Italy received his name because he took care of his brother Damian when their parents died. Eventually, Peter became a hermit and became Abbot. As Cardinal-bishop of Ostia, he tightened up the rules governing clergy behavior and standards. Tuesday: The Chair of Peter, Apostle, was set in the 4th century to honor Peter and his successors. The feast of Peter and Paul was originally scheduled for this date, but was moved to June 29th. We honor the role of the Bishop of Rome as the Vicar of Christ on earth. Wednesday: Polycarp, bishop and martyr (69-155) was from Turkey and lived in the first generation after the Apostles. He is most closely associated with John and is a friend of Ignatius of Antioch. Polycarp taught many of the new Christians about the faith and we was martyred in 155 at the age of 86. This Week in Jesuit History • Feb 20, 1860. Pope Pius IX visits the rooms of St Ignatius. • Feb 21, 1595. At Tyburn, the martyrdom of Robert Southwell after he had suffered brutal tortures in Topcliffe’s house and in prison. He embraced the jailer who brought him word that he was to be executed. As he breathed his last, Lord Mountjoy, who presided over the execution, exclaimed: “May my soul be one day with that of this man.” • Feb 22, 1599. By order of Pope Clement VIII, the superiors general of the Jesuits and the Dominicans, assisted by others, met to settle, if possible, the controversies about grace. Nothing came of the meeting, since the Dominicans insisted on the condemnation of the writings of Fr. Molina. • Feb 23, 1551. The Roman College, the major school of the Society later to become the Gregorian University, began its first scholastic year with 15 teachers and 60 students. • Feb 24, 1637. The death of Francis Pavone. Inflamed by his words and holy example, sixty members of a class of philosophy that he taught and the entire class of poetry embraced the religious state. • Feb 25, 1558. St Aloysius Gonzaga received tonsure at the Lateran basilica. Within the next month he would receive the minor orders. • Feb 26, 1611. The death of Antonio Possevino, sent by Pope Gregory XIII on many important embassies to Sweden, Russia, Poland, and Germany. In addition to founding colleges and seminaries in Cracow, Olmutz, Prague, Braunsberg, and Vilna, he found time to write 24 books. Presidents Day Until 25 years ago, George Washington’s birthday was celebrated on February 22nd and Abraham Lincoln’s was celebrated on February 12th. To create a uniform Monday holiday in February nationally, the 3rd Monday of February was chosen. Ironically, Presidents Day can never be celebrated on Washington’s birthday. Several states still celebrate Lincoln’s birthday on the 12th with a state holiday. The spelling for the day can be either Presidents Day or Presidents’ Day. Regardless, enjoy our nation’s history.
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Feb
17
The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of the prayer is faith; the fruit of the faith is love; the fruit of the love is service; the fruit of the service is peace.
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Feb
16
During the darkest days of the civil war, the hopes of the union died almost. When certain goals seemed unattainable, the leaders of the union gave return to president Abraham Lincoln for the consolation, the direction and the hope. Once, when a delegation called in the white house and detailed a long list of crisis that did in front of our nation, Lincoln counted this history: Years it does, a young friend and me era towards outside one night in which a meteorite shower fell of the clear sky of November. They scared the young man, but I said to him that to watch for above in the sky beyond fleeting stars “fixed” stars further on, the calm brightness in the firmament, and I said, “we do not matter of meteorites, but we keep our eyes in stars.
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Feb
15
Or Christ Jesus, when everything is the dark and we felt our weakness and neglect, gives the sense us of his presence, its love, and its force. Ayúdenos to have perfect confidence in its love of protection and being consolidated energy, so that nothing can scare or worry us, for, living near you, we see its hand, its intention, its will with all the things.
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Feb
14
I thought that these quotes could be cleaned up to hear the day of card of the day of San Valentin. “You know that you are in love when you do not want to fall slept because the reality is finally better than its dreams” – the Dr. Seuss” if you live to be one hundred, I want to live for being one hundred except a day so I never must live without you” – a Milne
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Feb
14
God has created to me to be in it a certain service defined; It is trusting a certain work which it does not have trusting to another one. I have my mission – I can never know it in this life, but they will say it to me in the following one. I am a connection in a chain, a connection of the connection between the people. He has not created to me for the anything. I will make good, I will do his I work; I will be an angel of La Paz, preacher of the truth in my own place, whereas not to think it, if I do but I keep its orders I serve and it in my call. Therefore, my God, I will put myself without reserve in its hands. What have I in sky, and aside from you what want I on the Earth? My meat and my heart fail, but God is God of my heart, and my portion by always.
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Feb
13
The day of card of the day of San Valentin celebrates romantic love. Also celebreates other types of love as love exists in many forms. Ignatius de Loyola writes, the “love must be expressed more with facts superior to words,” and the “love consists of a mutual distribution of merchandise.” It makes the day of card of the day of San Valentin be high and mighty to include other types of affectionate relation? You celebrate the day of card of the day of San loved Valentin with who is not its romantic partner?
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Feb
13
Ours they must be a dialogue, taken of the respect by people, especially the poor men, in those who we shared its cultural and spiritual values and offer our own cultural and spiritual treasures, to increase a communion of people well-educated by Word de God’s and cheered for the alcohol like in Pentecost. Our service of the Christian faith must never interrupt the best impulses of the culture in which we worked, nor can be a foreign imposition of the outside.
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Feb
12
The cortesa revolution in Egypt is remarkable truth. The commentaries of many Egyptians reveal their deep national pride and its desire to consider their country to prosper. People want to demonstrate to the world that she is vibrant by far to offer the community of the Arab and the world. At the same time, Tunisia happened with a revolutionary transition. Yemen, Algeria and other nations are encouraged by these inspiring events. What you do of desires of these countries?
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