Saturday, November 22, 2014

Some Ejaculations Gleaned From Romans 1:1-7



Servus Tuus sum.

Servus inutile sum. (cf. Lk. 17:10)

Vocasti me.
Vocas me.
Vocatus sum.
Voca me Christe!

Segregatus sum.
Segregasti me.
Segrega me Christe!

Tu ex semine David factus fuisti.
Praedestinatus fuisti.
Resurrexisti!

Spiritus sanctificationis dona me Domine.

Per Te, gratiam accipio.
Per Te, apostolatum accipio.

Gratia et pax omnibus!

Feast of Christ the King: Plenary Indulgence Prayer (Spanish/English)


On the Feast of Christ the King, celebrated on the last Sunday of October (the Sunday before the Feast of All Saints [last {34th} Sunday of Ordinary Time in the new calendar]) and initiated in 1925 by Pius XI in his Encyclical Quas Primas, there follows after the Mass a Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We kneel before the Sacrament and recite the following consecration. Afterwards, there is a Litany and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. In devoutly praying the Consecration on this day and within eight days going to Confession and receiving the Eucharist, the faithful receive a plenary indulgence.



Acto de consagración del género humano al
Sagrado Corazón de Jesús

Dulcísimo Jesús, Redentor del género humano, miradnos humildemente postrados delante de vuestro altar; vuestros somos y vuestros queremos ser: y a fin de poder vivir más estrechamente unidos con Vos, todos y cada uno espontáneamente nos consagramos en este día a vuestro Sacratísimo Corazón.

Muchos, por desgracia, jamás os han conocido; muchos, despreciando vuestros mandamientos, os han desechado.

¡Oh, Jesús benignísimo! Compadeceos de los unos y de los otros, y atraedlos todos a vuestro Corazón Sacratísimo.

¡Oh Señor! Sed Rey, no sólo de los hijos fieles que jamás se han alejado de Vos, sino también de los pródigos que os han abandonado; haced que vuelvan pronto a la casa paterna, porque no perezcan de hambre y de miseria.

Sed Rey de aquellos que por seducción del error o por espíritu de discordia, viven separados de Vos: devolvedlos al puerto de la verdad y a la unidad de fe, para que en breve se forme un solo rebaño bajo un solo Pastor.

Sed Rey de los que permanecen todavía envueltos en las tinieblas de la idolatría o del Islamismo: dignaos atraerlos a todos a la luz de vuestro reino.

Mirad, finalmente, con ojos de misericordia, a los hijos de aquel pueblo que en otro tiempo fue vuestro predilecto: descienda también sobre ellos, como bautismo de redención y de vida, la Sangre que un día contra sí reclamaron.

Conceded, oh, Señor, incolumidad y libertad segura a vuestra Iglesia; otorgad a todos los pueblos la tranquilidad en el orden; haced que del uno al otro confín de la tierra no resuene sino esta voz:

Alabado sea el Corazón divino, causa de nuestra salud; a Él se entonen cánticos de honor y de gloria por los siglos de los siglos. Amén.


Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Feast of Christ the King


Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before Thine altar. We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be; but, to be more surely united with Thee, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to Thy most Sacred Heart.

Many indeed have never known Thee; many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy sacred Heart. Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee; grant that they may quickly return to Thy Father's house lest they die of wretchedness and hunger.

Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that there may be but one flock and one Shepherd.

Be Thou King of all those who are still involved in the darkness of idolatry or of Islamism, and refuse not to draw them into the light and kingdom of God. Turn Thine eyes of mercy towards the children of the race, once Thy chosen people: of old they called down upon themselves the Blood of the Savior; may it now descend upon them a laver of redemption and of life.

Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: "Praise be to the divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor for ever." Amen.

Corpus Christi in Cologne (1947)

Cardinal Archbishop Frings Benediction

1926 Eucharistic Congress USA: Live Footage

Procession in New York

28th International Eucharistic Congress, Chicago

In 1926 the 28th International Eucharistic Congress was held in Chicago from June 20–24. Cardinal Bonzano was the papal legate and the host was George Cardinal MundeleinArchbishop of Chicago. Mass for a crowd estimated at 500,000 was held at the recently completed Soldier Field Stadium. Closing mass at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary had nearly a million worshippers.

Open Air Mass (Chicago)

Three Texts for the Presentation


Mary, the Lord's first, perfect and God-made temple, is presented in the Jerusalem man-made temple; she who would bear the true and eternal Temple of God, Christ our Lord.

The Jerusalem temple was God's designated place for His special spiritual presence on the earth, for a time. Mary was made by God for His temporary carnal place on the earth, the temple of his true and everlasting Temple, His body. Jesus Christ is the permanent Temple of God, forever raised and established in glory.

  I. Apocryphal Gospel of James
 II. The Catholic Encyclopedia
III. EWTN: (Butler's Lives of the Saints)

I. Apocryphal Gospel of James

6. And the child grew strong day by day; and when she was six months old, her mother set her on the ground to try whether she could stand, and she walked seven steps and came into her bosom; and she snatched her up, saying: As the Lord my God liveth, thou shall not walk on this earth until I bring thee into the temple of the Lord. And she made a sanctuary in her bed-chamber, and allowed nothing common or unclean to pass through her. And she called the undefiled daughters of the Hebrews, and they led her astray. And when she was a year old, Joachim made a great feast, and invited the priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and all the people of Israel. And Joachim brought the child to the priests; and they blessed her, saying: O God of our fathers, bless this child, and give her an everlasting name to be named in all generations. And all the people said: So be it, so be it, amen. And he brought her to the chief priests; and they blessed her, saying: O God most high, look upon this child, and bless her with the utmost blessing, which shall be for ever. And her mother snatched her up, and took her into the sanctuary of her bed-chamber, and gave her the breast. And Anna made a song to the Lord God, saying: I will sing a song to the Lord my God, for He hath looked upon me, and hath taken away the reproach of mine enemies; and the Lord hath given the the fruit of His righteousness, singular in its kind, and richly endowed before Him. Who will tell the sons of Rubim that Anna gives suck? Hear, hear, ye twelve tribes of Israel, that Anna gives suck. And she laid her to rest in the bed-chamber of her sanctuary, and went out and ministered unto them. And when the supper was ended, they went down rejoicing, and glorifying the God of Israel.
7. And her months were added to the child. And the child was two years old, and Joachim said: Let us take her up to the temple of the Lord, that we may pay the vow that we have vowed, lest perchance the Lord send to us, and our offering be not received. And Anna said: Let us wait for the third year, in order that the child may not seek for father or mother. And Joachim said: So let us wait. And the child was three years old, and Joachim said: Invite the daughters of the Hebrews that are undefiled, and let them take each a lamp, and let them stand with the lamps burning, that the child may not turn back, and her heart be captivated from the temple of the Lord. And they did so until they went up into the temple of the Lord. And the priest received her, and kissed her, and blessed her, saying: The Lord has magnified thy name in all generations. In thee, on the last of the days, the Lord will manifest His redemption to the sons of Israel. And he set her down upon the third step of the altar, and the Lord God sent grace upon her; and she danced with her feet, and all the house of Israel loved her.
8. And her parents went down marvelling, and praising the Lord God, because the child had not turned back. And Mary was in the temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that dwelt there, and she received food from the hand of an angel. And when she was twelve years old there was held a council of the priests, saying: Behold, Mary has reached the age of twelve years in the temple of the Lord. What then shall we do with her, test perchance she defile the sanctuary of the Lord? And they said to the high priest: Thou standest by the altar of the Lord; go in, and pray concerning her; and whatever the Lord shall manifest unto thee, that also will we do. And the high priest went in, taking the robe with the twelve bells into the holy of holies; and he prayed concerning her. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by him, saying unto him: Zacharias, Zacharias, go out and assemble the widowers of the people, and let them bring each his rod; and to whomsoever the Lord shall show a sign, his wife shall she be. And the heralds went out through all the circuit of Judaea, and the trumpet of the Lord sounded, and all ran.

II. The Catholic Encyclopedia

The Presentation of Mary

According to Exodus 13:2 and 13:12, all the Hebrew first-born male children had to be presented in the Temple. Such a law would lead pious Jewish parents to observe the same religious rite with regard to other favourite children. This inclines one to believe that Joachim and Anna presented in the Temple their child, which they had obtained by their long, fervent prayers.

As to Mary, St. Luke (1:34) tells us that she answered the angel announcing the birth of Jesus Christ: "how shall this be done, because I know not man". These words can hardly be understood, unless we assume that Mary had made a vow of virginity; for, when she spoke them, she was betrothed to St. Joseph. [41] The most opportune occasion for such a vow was her presentation in the Temple. As some of the Fathers admit that the faculties of St. John the Baptist were prematurely developed by a special intervention of God's power, we may admit a similar grace for the child of Joachim and Anna. [42]

But what has been said does not exceed the certainty of antecedently probable pious conjectures. The consideration that Our Lord could not have refused His Blessed Mother any favours which depended merely on His munificence does not exceed the value of an a priori argument. Certainty in this question must depend on external testimony and the teaching of the Church.

Now, the Protoevangelium of James (7-8), and the writing entitled "De nativit. Mariae" (7-8), [43] state that Joachim andAnna, faithful to a vow they had made, presented the child Mary in the Temple when she was three years old; that the child herself mounted the Temple steps, and that she made her vow of virginity on this occasion. St. Gregory of Nyssa [44] and St. Germanus of Constantinople [45] adopt this report; it is also followed by pseudo-Gregory of Nazianzus in his "Christus patiens". [46] Moreover, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation, though it does not specify at what age the child Mary was presented in the Temple, when she made her vow of virginity, and what were the special natural and supernatural gifts with which God endowed her. The feast is mentioned for the first time in a document of Manuel Commenus, in 1166; from Constantinople the feast must have been introduced into the western Church, where we find it at the papal court at Avignon in 1371; about a century later, Pope Sixtus IV introduced the Office of the Presentation, and in 1585 Pope Sixtus V extended the Feast of the Presentation to the whole Church.



III. EWTN: (Butler's Lives of the Saints)

THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Feast: November 21
Religious parents never fail by devout prayer to consecrate their children to the divine service and love, both before and after their birth. Some amongst the Jews, not content with this general consecration of their children, offered them to God in their infancy, by the hands of the priests in the temple, to be lodged in apartments belonging to the temple, and brought up in attending the priests and Levites in the sacred ministry. It is an ancient tradition, that the Blessed Virgin Mary was thus solemnly offered to God in the temple in her infancy.[1] This festival of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, or, as it is often called by the Greeks, the entrance of the Blessed Virgin into the Temple, is mentioned in the most ancient Greek Menologies extant.

By the consecration which the Blessed Virgin made of herself to God in the first use which she made of her reason, we are admonished of the most important and strict obligation which all persons lie under, of an early dedication of themselves to the divine love and service. It is agreed amongst all masters of Christian morality, that everyone is bound in the first moral instant of the use of reason to convert his heart to God by love; and if divine faith be then duly proposed to him (which is the case of Christian children) by a supernatural assent to it, he is bound then to make an act of faith; also an act of hope in God as a supernatural rewarder and helper, and an act of divine charity. Who can be secure that in the very moment in which he entered into his moral life and was capable of living to God, did not stain his innocence by a capital omission of this duty? How diligent and solicitous are parents bound to be in instructing their children in the first fundamental mysteries of faith, and in the duty of prayer, and in impressing upon their tender minds a sense of spiritual things in a manner in which their age may be capable of receiving it. These first fruits of the heart are a sacrifice of which God is infinitely jealous, an emblem of which were all the sacrifices of first fruits prescribed in the old law, in token that he is our beginning and last end. Such a heart, adorned with the baptismal grace of innocence, has particular charms. Grace recovered by penance is not like that of innocence which has never been defiled; nor is it the same happiness for a soul to return to God from the slavery of sin, as for one to give him her first affections, and to open her understanding and will to his love before the world has found any entrance there. The tender soul of Mary was then adorned with the most precious graces, an object of astonishment and praise to the angels, and of the highest complacence to the adorable Trinity, the Father looking upon her as his beloved daughter, the Son, as one chosen and prepared to become his mother, and the Holy Ghost as his darling spouse.

Her first presentation to God, made by the hands of her parents and by her own devotion, was then an offering most acceptable in his sight. Let our consecration of ourselves to God be made under her patronage, and assisted by her powerful intercession and the union of her merits. If we have reason to fear that we criminally neglected this duty at the first dawning of our reason, or, if we have since been unfaithful to our sacred baptismal engagements, such is the mercy and goodness of our gracious God, that he disdains not our late offerings. But that these may be accepted by him, we must first prepare the present he requires of us, that is, our hearts. They must be washed and cleansed in the sacred laver of Christ's adorable blood, by means of sincere compunction and penance; and all inordinate affections must be pared away by our perfectly renouncing in spirit, honours, riches, and pleasures, and being perfectly disengaged from creatures, and ready to do and suffer all for God, that we may be entirely his, and that neither the world nor pride, nor any irregular passion may have any place in us. What secret affections to this or that creature lurk in our souls, which hinder us from being altogether his, unless they are perfectly cut off or reformed! This Mary did by spending her youth in holy retirement, at a distance from the commerce and corruption of the world, and by the most assiduous application to all the duties and exercises of a religious and interior life. Mary was the first who set up the standard of virginity; and, by consecrating it by a perpetual vow to our Lord, she opened the way to all virgins who have since followed her example. They, in particular, ought to take her for their special patroness, and, as her life was the most perfect model of their state, they ought always to have her example before their eyes, and imitate her in prayer, humility, modesty, silence, and retirement.

Mary lived retired until she was introduced into the world and espoused to St. Joseph. Some think her espousals were at first only a promise or betrothing: but the ends assigned by the fathers, seem rather to show them to have been a marriage. These are summed up by St. Jerome as follows:[2] that by the pedigree of Joseph, the descent of Mary from the tribe of Juda, might be demonstrated; that she might not be stoned by the Jews as an adulteress; that, fleeing into Egypt, she might have the comfort and protection of a spouse. A fourth reason, says St. Jerome, is added by the martyr Ignatius: that the birth of the Son of God might be concealed from the devil. The words of that apostolic father are: "Three mysteries wrought by God in silence were concealed from the prince of this world. the virginity of Mary, the bringing forth of her Son, and the death of the Lord."[3] Not that God could fear any impediment to his designs from the devil; but he was pleased to effect these mysteries in silence and without worldly show and noise, that pride and hell might, by his all-wise and sweet providence, be more meetly triumphed over, whilst the devil himself hastened his own overthrow by concurring to the mystery of the cross. From the marriage of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, St. Austin shows[4] that marriage requires no more than the mutual consent of the will between parties who lie under no impediment or inability to an indissoluble individual society of life. In this holy marriage we admire the incomparable chastity of Mary and Joseph; and the sanctity and honour, as well as the patronage and example, which that holy state receives from this mystery. In certain particular churches the espousals of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph are honoured with an office on the 23rd of January.

Endnotes

1 See St. Greg. of Nyssa, Serm. In Nat. Christ., p. 779.

2 In c. 1, Mat. p. 7, ed. Ben

3 St. Ignat. ep. ad Ephes. p. 16.

4 St. Aug. lib. de Nuptits et Concup. c. 11, n. 13, p. 287.

(Taken from Vol. III of "The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints" by the Rev. Alban Butler.)

Friday, November 21, 2014

On Greetings


"Praised be Jesus Christ!"

I suggest this as the typical sacerdotal greeting to people. In place of the trite "hello," "good morning," and especially as a response to the amorphous "how are you?" just say "praised be Jesus Christ!" And if they ask again, "how are you?" say it all the more emphatically "praised be Jesus Christ!" and by then they will usually get the point that you will respond kindly, with faith and leaving things (including your state of being) in the hands of the Lord.

You've heard of "keeping Christ in Christmas." Let's call this keeping Christ in every day.

That is how the Poles greet the priest and the priest greets the people, same thing in Italy, it's a typical Catholic greeting, "praised be Jesus Christ!" and the response is "now and forever!"

For "farewell" you can say as the Latin Americans do: "May the Virgin be with you!" "Que Virgen te acompañe."

We need to re-baptize our niceties.

Laudetur Jesus Christus!

In aeternum!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

On Judging

"Who am I to judge?" --Pope Francis

Someone recently said that was a profound statement. I disagree. It is neither profound nor helpful in the present climate of widespread confusion. It is actually a lack of charity under the guise of charity. Confusion is a sin against charity!

You are a man.
You are a Christian.
You are a priest.
You are a bishop.
You are the pope.

The visible head of the Church--the spiritual leader of the world.

Priests are judges for the world. It is a service in the truth. If those in authority do not judge the criminals run wild and the innocent are abused!

It is not a profound statement to say that we cannot judge the internal motives and decisions of people, that's just basic moral theology. Every priest knows that, that is why we have the sacrament of Confession, it is the sacrament of mercy for the repentant. For the Holy Father to say this statement sort of implies that this is something new of which priests are generally negligent. That is not the case. If anything the priests of the past few decades have been overly indulgent in "not judging" and that is a large part of the world's present confusion to which this Holy Father is adding.

Priests must judge and condemn every type of immoral action and vice and "lifestyle" as Christ Himself enjoins us, that is a spiritual work of mercy: to reprimand the sinner.

If Christians do not judge the world will be left without judgement and consequently without hope according to Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical on hope. No judgement, no hope! We are lost in our sins!

On Confession




People go to a psychologist to confess their sins.

But what they want is absolution.

 "Et ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis..."



“If this day you only knew what makes for peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes." (From the Gospel of today's Mass)

Catholic Loyalty


If a schism should come to pass, I'll stick with Peter!

Omnes cum Petro ad Jesum per Mariam!

The Art of Speaking


Besides content, here are a few key elements of speech which can make or break a discourse, and so it is well to consider and target to improve.

+emphasis
+pace
+pause
+volume
+tone
+accent
+inflection
+cadence

All of these elements are involved in every sentence, making for infinite variations and combinations.

Plan how you are to say your speech. Delivery is important, it too is part of the message.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

No Substitutes!


Those who do not receive and give the love of God are like "...a drug user who becomes increasingly addicted to the narcotics that fail to satisfy him."

The Priority of Christ, Robert Barron, p. 86.

No substitutes!...God in your life, your life in God!

Money, sex, power, the esteem of others...will not do!

Every person needs God always and everywhere. That is why He is God and we are not! He alone is God. Get with Him and He will give you living water to never thirst again! John 4:10

Exposing the Homoheresy


It's not pedophilia, it's homosex!

"We should first expose the common lie presented by the media. They keep talking about pedophilia among clergymen, while it is most often the case that the problem is ephebophilia, which is a perversion consisting in adult homosexual men being attracted not to children, but to pubescent and adolescent boys. It is a typical deviation related to homosexuality.

"Basic knowledge about that reality includes the fact that more than 80 percent of cases involving sexual abuse by clergymen reported in the U.S.A. were cases of ephobophilia, not pedophilia!*

"That fact has been carefully hidden and ignored, as it reveals particularly well the hypocrisy of the homolobby in both the world and the Church. It is all the more important that it be exposed."

Fr. Dariusz Oko, Ph.D. "With the Pope Against the Homoheresy".

*A real mine of knowledge on the subject is found in the fundamental document of the Bishops' Conference of the Unites States, a very reliable report drawn up on the basis of thorough studies carried out in all US dioceses: The Nature and Scope of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the Unites States 1950-2002, New York 2004, known as the John Jay Report 2004...See also R. Dreher, The Gay Question, "National Review", 22 April 2002, and R.J. Neuhaus, Rozejm roku 2005? [The Truce of 2005?], "First Things. Edycja Polska" No. 1, Fall 2006, pp. 13-19, 18.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

What is Wrong Can Never Be a Right


Homosex is bad for you!

+Emotionally
+Mentally
+Spiritually
+Physically
At least as bad as pornography, fornication, masturbation, adultery and every other manner of lust.

It messes you up!

Lesbianism is simply mutual masturbation. How does that make you feel?
Male homosex is sodomy. How does that make you smell? Can't be healthy! Wrong hole!

Those are actually acts of violence!

Reject every form of violation of persons.

Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace!

You must excuse my crudeness, but the language surrounding these perversions has become too nice. The ugliness of it all must be exposed and roundly condemned.

There is no real beauty without chastity and modesty!

Immorality is ugly! Very ugly! The very opposite of decorum.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Ultra-Sexism. Amen.


Why homosexuals cannot marry.
Why women cannot be priests.

Ultimately the reason is the same.

There is a fundamental and radical real difference between the sexes.


A man is a man, and a woman is a woman.
A man is not a woman, and a woman is not a man.
It's basic.
Some things you just have to accept!
You cannot change that!
It's God given!
Thank God.

It is difference--absolute, clear, unalterable difference--which makes life exciting. All of magnetic reality is based upon it and makes everything attract or repel accordingly.

The Catholic Church is simply the guarantor on earth of the basic truth of things; Christ, perfect God and perfect Man being Her Lord and Her Life. He is the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him, the eternal Son of the Father: one God!

Without the light of Christ you will get confused on the most basic truths of existence and reality. (Cf. Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Chapter 1:18-32)

P.S. This post is in reaction to the 60 Minutes interview last night with Cardinal Sean O'Malley in which he defends the Church's position on exclusively male priesthood based upon the express and unchanging will of Christ.
It is ironic that that interview, which focused on child sex abuse by men, should feature a plethora of advertisements for erectile dysfunction and Viagra! Typical journalist Pharisees who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel; they are the most vigorous promoters of the immorality which they pretend to condemn. Hypocrites!

What is a Family? Former Nihilist-Atheist Philosopher Fabrice Hadjadj Explains

Religión en libertad


Publica sus tesis «ultrasexistas» en «¿Qué es una familia?»
Fabrice Hadjadj, que fue ateo y nihilista, defiende la familia cristiana por «salvaje y anárquica»
Fabrice Hadjadj, que fue ateo y nihilista, defiende la familia cristiana por «salvaje y anárquica»
El filósofo Fabrice Hadjadj defiende la familia natural frente a la explotación deshumanizante del género y el consumo
Actualizado 17 noviembre 2014 

  
 Las 4 pobrezas evangélicas del comunicador cristiano, según el filósofo Fabrice Hadjadj
 El filósofo Fabrice Hadjadj y sus preguntas incómodas sobre el embrión: «¿No es acaso humano?»
 De familia judía de izquierda radical, él era ateo y nihilista... hasta que leyó la Biblia
 Fabrice Hadjadj deslumbró con la fe de los demonios y promete ahora éxito en la muerte
Fabrice Hadjadj, que fue ateo y nihilista, defiende la familia cristiana por ser "salvaje, anárquica y prehistórica". De familia judía de izquierda radical, él era ateo y nihilista... hasta que empezó a leer la Biblia para burlarse de ella... y encontró una gran sabiduría.

Hoy Fabrice Hadjadj expone sus tesis que llama“ultrasexistas” sobre la unión entre hombre y mujer, el sentido divino del nacimiento, el ser padres, madres e hijos, como en esta entrevista en Tempi.it.


El segundo tiempo del Sínodo extraordinario sobre la familia se jugará entre el 4 y el 25 de octubre del año que viene, cuando el argumento será retomado por el Sínodo ordinario con el título “La vocación y la misión de la familia en la Iglesia y en el mundo contemporáneo”.

Y visto como ha ido la primera parte del partido, será mejor entrenarse aún más y prepararse para que cada uno dé la propia contribución al juego de equipo.

Muy útil a este propósito puede revelarse la lectura seria de Qu’est-ce qu’une famille?(¿Qué es una familia?, ndt), el último libro escrito por Fabrice Hadjadj, pensador católico francés y director de la Fundación Anthropos en Lausanne (Suiza).

Autor siempre genial, sorprendente y provocador, como se deduce también esta vez por el subtítulo, que suena así: Suivi de la Transcendance en culottes et autres propos ultra-sexistes, es decir “resultado de la Trascendencia en las bragas y otros propuestas ultrasexistas”.



Para Hadjadj la familia es, a nivel humano, lo que a nivel cósmico es el agua para Tales de Mileto o el aire para Anaximandro: el principio anterior a todo el resto, el fundamento que no puede ser explicado precisamente porque es un fundamento.Sólo se puede tomar constancia de él, comprobando que lo que le da forma es la diferencia sexual que se manifiesta como atracción entre el hombre y la mujer.

La familia es, ante todo, naturaleza, pero siempre ordenada y bajo la responsabilidad de la cultura.

Porque el nacer, propio de cada forma natural, en los humanos está siempre rodeado de un "hacer nacer". Y del hacer nacer de la matrona a la mayéutica de Sócrates (no es casualidad que fuera hijo de una matrona), que ayuda a hacer nacer la verdad que está dentro de cada hombre, el paso es breve y necesario.

En el libro, del que se espera en breve una traducción en italiano, Hadjadj individua principalmente tres enemigos de la familia en las sociedades occidentales: las últimas tecnologías electrónicas, la transformación de la procreación en producción ingenieril de seres humanos y las derivas falocéntricas (justamente así) de la mayor parte de los feminismos de hoy.

Tempi lo ha entrevistado sobre estos temas (aquí en italiano).

-Su libro ha salido en la vigilia del Sínodo de los obispos sobre la familia. ¿Le parece que los trabajos y el documento final del Sínodo reflejan algunas de sus preocupaciones?-El problema de un Sínodo es que tiene que hablar para la Iglesia universal, mientras las situaciones que la familia vive pueden ser muy distintas de un país al otro, incluso radicalmente opuestas.

»En lo que a mí concierne, se trata de pensar lo que sucede a la familia en las sociedades post-industriales marcadas por la economía liberal. La Relatio Synodi, en su diagnóstico, se queda satisfecha con evocar una vez más el «individualismo» y el «hedonismo», mientras que los debates se han cristalizado alrededor de la cuestión de los «divorciados vueltos a casar» o sobre la bendición a las personas homosexuales.

»De este modo me parece que falta totalmente lo que es, de manera absoluta, propio de nuestra época; es decir, la revolución antropológica que se está llevando a cabo con la transición de la familia a la empresa y del nacimiento a la fabricación – o si se prefiere, de la concepción oscura en el vientre de una madre a la concepción transparente en el espíritu del ingeniero

»La familia ha sido atacada en el plano ideológico desde los inicios del cristianismo. Por ejemplo, por los gnósticos. Pero hoy el ataque es más radical: éste no proviene tanto de la ideología como del dispositivo tecnológico. Ya no es una cuestión de teoría, sino de práctica, de medios eficaces para producir, fuera de las relaciones sexuales, individuos más adecuados, con mejores prestaciones.

-Usted opone la mesa de madera, alrededor de la que se reúne la familia, con la tableta electrónica, que separa y aísla a los miembros y su conclusión es que la tecnología ha colapsado la familia y estamos asistiendo a su «destrucción tecnológica». ¿Estamos ante el enemigo más grande de la familia?
-¿Cuál es el lugar dónde se teje el tejido familiar? ¿Cuál es el lugar dónde las generaciones se encuentran, conversan, a veces pelean y, sin embargo, a través del acto muy primitivo de comer juntas, siguen compartiendo y estando en comunión?Tradicionalmente este lugar es la mesa. Sin embargo, hoy es cada vez más frecuente que cada uno de nosotros coma delante de la puerta de la nevera para poder volver lo más rápidamente posible a la propia pantalla individual.


»Ya no se trata ni siquiera de individualismo, sino de «dividualismo», porque en esa pantalla uno abre más de una ventana y se divide, se fragmenta, se dispersa, pierde su rostro para convertirse en una multitud de «perfiles», pierde su filiación para tener un «prefijo».

»La mesa implica reunirse dentro de una transmisión genealógica y carnal. La tableta implica la disgregación dentro de una diversión tecnológica y desencarnada. Por otra parte, la innovación tecnológica permite que lo que es más reciente sea mejor de lo que es más antiguo y, por lo tanto, destruye el carácter venerable de lo que es antiguo y de la experiencia.

»Si la mesa desaparece es también porque el adolescente se convierte en el cabeza de familia: es él quien sabe manejar menor los últimos artilugios electrónicos y ni el abuelo ni el padre tienen nada que enseñarle.

-Usted escribe, de una manera muy provocadora, que si de verdad pensamos que todo lo que necesitan nuestros hijos es amor y educación, entonces no sólo una pareja de personas del mismo sexo puede cubrir esta necesidad, también lo puede hacer un orfanato de calidad. Si lo esencial es el amor y la educación, no está dicho que una familia sea necesariamente el lugar mejor para un niño. Entonces, ¿por qué la familia padre-madre merece ser privilegiada?-Es la cuestión planteada en Un Mundo Feliz de Aldous Huxley: si tenéis un hijo por la vía sexual es sencillamente porque os habéis ido a la cama con una mujer. Esto no ofrece garantías sobre vuestras cualidades reproductivas ni sobre vuestras competencias como educadores. He aquí por qué sería mejor, para el bienestar del nuevo ser creado, ser puesto a punto dentro de una incubadora y educado por especialistas. Esta argumentación es muy fuerte.

»Mientras los cristianos sigan definiendo la familia como el lugar de la educación y del amor, ellos no la contradirán, sino que más bien darán armas a sus adversarios para que puedan concluir que dos hombres capaces de afecto y especializados en pedagogía son mucho más adecuados que un padre y una madre. Pero el problema es que sigue siendo el primado de lo tecnológico sobre lo genealógico lo que preside esta idea y nos empuja a sustituir a la madre con la matriz y al padre con el experto.
»Detrás de todo esto está el error de buscar el bien del niño y de no considerar ya su ser. Ahora bien, el ser del niño es ser el hijo o la hija de un hombre y de una mujer, a través de la unión sexual. A través de esta unión, el niño llega como una sobreabundancia de amor: no es el producto de un fantasma ni el resultado de un proyecto, sino una persona que surge, singular, inalcanzable, que supera nuestros planes.

»En lo que respecta al padre, del simple hecho que ha transmitido la vida recibe una autoridad sin competencia y esto es mucho mejor que cualquier competencia profesional. Porque el padre está allí, sobre todo, para manifestar al niño el hecho de que existir es bueno, mientras que los expertos sin competencia están allí para mostrar que lo bueno es llegar, tener éxito. Y además, su autoridad sin competencia lo empuja a reconocer delante del niño que él no es el Padre absoluto y, por lo tanto, a dirigirse junto a su hijo hacia ese Padre del cual cada paternidad toma su nombre.



Manifestación "La Familia Sí Importa", de 2005 en Madrid

-Usted cita como la otra causa de la destrucción de la familia el rechazo del nacimiento como nacimiento, es decir, como algo natural e imprevisto. Quien es favorable a la tecnologización del nacimiento dice que es necesario vigilar para que las biotecnologías se utilicen de una manera ventajosa para el niño que debe nacer, pero que a pesar de todo estas técnicas son buenas. ¿Qué les respondería?-Si las biotecnologías se utilizan para acompañar o restaurar una fertilidad natural, soy favorable a las mismas: es el sentido mismo de la medicina. Pero si consisten en hacernos entrar en una producción artificial ya no se trata de medicina, sino de ingeniería. Lo que sucede entonces es que el niño se convierte en un derecho que es reivindicado, dejando de ser un don del cual uno se siente indigno. A partir de esto, ustedes pueden imaginar las influencias que sufrirá.

»Pero lo más grave está en otro hecho, en lo que yo llamaría la confusión entre novedad e innovación. Si el nuevo nacido renueva el mundo, es porque él de alguna manera nace prehistórico: no hay diferencias fundamentales entre el bebé italiano de hoy y el del hombre de las cavernas. Sigue siendo un pequeño primitivo, un pequeño salvaje que desembarca en la familia y que trae consigo un inicio absoluto, la promesa renovada de la aurora.

»Si en un futuro medimos el nacimiento con el metro de la innovación, si se fabrican principalmente bebés trashumanos, estos serán ancianos antes de nacer porque volverán a proponer la lógica del progreso y, por consiguiente, también de la fatal obsolescencia de los objetos técnicos. Corresponderán a los objetivos de quien los encarga, a las expectativas de su sociedad.

Nos encontramos frente a una inversión de las fórmulas del Credo: se quiere un ser que haya «nacido del siglo antes que todos los padres, creado y no engendrado».



-Usted escribe: «Gracias a la tecnología la dominación fálica está asegurada principalmente por mujeres histéricas producto de hombres castrados». ¿Qué quiere decir?-Lo propio de lo femenino, en la maternidad, es acoger dentro de sí un proceso oscuro, el de la vida que se dona por sí misma. Crear útero artificiales puede parecer una emancipación de la mujer, pero en realidad es una confiscación de los poderes que le son más propios.

»Por una parte se consigue que la mujer, al no ser ya madre, se convierta en una empleada o una ama (como si fuera una liberación); por la otra, que el proceso oscuro se convierta en un procedimiento técnico transparente, el de un trabajo externo y controlado, que es a lo que se limita la operación del hombre, que no tiene un útero y fabrica con sus propias manos.

»He aquí que nos encontramos frente a la paradoja de la mayor parte de los feminismos: no son más que un machismo de la mujer, una reivindicación de la igualdad pero sobre la escala de valores masculinos, un querer una promoción en pleno acuerdo con la visión fálica del mundo.

»Porque la fecundación y la gestación in vitro son cuanto más próximo hay a un dominio fálico de la fecundidad: no necesitar de lo femenino y hacer entrar la procreación en el juego de la fabricación, de la transparencia y de la competición.

»Ya he hablado de una inversión del Credo; en este caso podría hablar de una Contra-Anunciación. En la Anunciación evangélica, María acepta un embarazo que la supera dos veces, desde el punto de vista natural y desde el punto de vista sobrenatural.En la Contra-Anunciación tecnológica, la mujer rechaza cualquier embarazo y exige que la procreación sea una planificación integral, que ya no la supere, sino que se introduzca en su proyecto de carrera.

-Usted está de acuerdo con Chesterton en que la familia es la «institución anárquica por excelencia». ¿Qué significa? Actualmente, la familia sigue estando acusada de autoritarismo o de residuo de la época del poder patriarcal.-La familia es una institución anárquica en el sentido que es anterior al Estado, al derecho y al mercado. Depende de la naturaleza antes de ser ordenada por la cultura, porque naturalmente el hombre nace de la unión de un hombre y de una mujer. En pocas palabras, tiene su fundamento en nuestra ropa interior. Es algo animal – el macho y la hembra – y al mismo tiempo nosotros creemos que esta animalidad es muy espiritual, de una espiritualidad divina, escrita en la carne: «Dios creó al hombre a su imagen, varón y mujer los creó».

»Hay algo que es donado, y no construido. Tanto que también el patriarca, como se ve en la Biblia, está siempre sorprendido y asimismo exasperado por sus hijos. Piensen en la historia de Jacob. Piensen en José, el padre de Jesús. No se puede decir, ciertamente, que tienen la situación bajo control.

»La autoridad del padre se transforma en autoritarismo cuando finge tener todo bajo control y ser perfectamente competente. Pero como he dicho antes, su verdadera y más profunda autoridad está en el reconocer que no está a la altura y que está obligado a dirigirse al Padre eterno.

(Traducción de Helena Faccia Serrano, Alcalá de Henares)

Sunday, November 16, 2014

On Investing Your Talents

Live Your Life According to a Plan of Holiness

 Invest your Life!

(Cf. Matthew 25:14-30, the Gospel of today's Mass)

Do you want to be a really good Christian? The first of your battles will be to enter into and remain in the state of grace, to avoid any mortal sin. And, then, because you want to love God above all things, you will also try not to commit venial sins. 
The practice of some acts of piety throughout the day will help you to have a divine contemplative life in the midst of the daily routine. The habitual performance of these acts will also be the founda­tion for growing in Christian virtues. Most important is to be consistent in your daily schedule, in your spiritual game plan, so that you will live as a child of God.

Daily
  • Get up at a fixed time, as early as possible. Eight hours of sleep should be enough. More than this or less than six hours of sleep may is usually not healthy.
  • Offer your day to God through the intercession of our Lady.
  • Work with order and intensity during the day as a way of serving God. Set goals and establish pri­orities in order to develop a practical schedule. Sanctifying ordinary work is the goal of our life.
  • Try to attend Mass, receiving holy Communion, as of­ten as possible. This is the best sacrifice we can offer to God. Prepare yourself for the Mass by spending some time in prayer.
  • Spend some time in mental prayer before the Blessed Sacrament (15 minutes, if possible).
  • Pray the Angelus at noontime. (During Easter­time, we say the Regina Ca:li instead.)
  • Pray the Rosary, if possible, with your family, of­fering each decade for a specific intention.
  • Do some other spiritual reading. Start with the New Testament or some well-known spiritual book. Ten to fifteen minutes is sufficient.
  • Make a short examination of conscience at the end of the day before going to bed. Two or three min­utes is enough. Follow these steps: Humble your­self in the presence of God. Tell him, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." Ask for light to acknowledge your defects and virtues and to see the dangers and opportunities of the day. Ask for repentance, amendment, and encouragement.
Weekly
  • Center all activities around the holy Mass on Sunday, the Lord's day. It is also a family day-for rest and spiritual growth.
  • If you do not receive holy Communion every day, receive at least on Sundays and holy days of obligation.
  • Saturday is traditionally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Honor her and say some special prayer, such as the Hail Holy Queen.
Monthly
  • Go to Confession at least once a month. It is the sacrament of joy. Pope John Paul II says: "God is always the one who is principally offended by sin-'l have sinned against You' -and God alone can forgive. He does so through the ministrv of the priest in the sacrament of Penance, which is the ordinary way of obtaining forgiveness and remission of mortal sins. Every mortal sin must always be stated with its determining circumstances in an individual confession."
  • Seek and follow the spiritual guidance of a wise, prudent, and knowledgeable priest.
  • Spend a few hours in recollection, best done before the Blessed Sacrament. Consider how you are directing your life toward God.
Yearly
  • Spend two three days each year in silence, speaking with God only. A few days of retreat are necessary for the soul in the same way that the body needs a vacation. It is a yearly opportunity for conversion.
Always
  • Stay in the presence of God: be aware that he is always close to you, using frequent aspirations*. Try to please him in everything as a child tries to please his/her parents.
  • Thank God for the graces that he constantly gives you.
  • Do everything for the love of God: this is purity of intention. Always purify your intention. Make acts of contrition and atonement for your sins and sins of others.
  • Try to live as you would like to die. We shall die as we have lived.
*Some Aspriations (for Frequent Use)
A clean heart create for me, O God. 
A contrite and humble heart, O God, you will not despise.
A poor and lowly servant am I.
All the glory for God.
For those who love God, all things work together for good.
For you, O God, are my strength.
He must increase, but I must decrease.
Here I am, for you did call me.
Holy Mary, our hope, seat of wisdom, pray for us.
Holy Mary, our hope, handmaid of the Lord, pray for us.
Holy Mary, star of the sea, help your children.
I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
I do believe; help my unbelief.
I give you thanks for all your benefits, even the unknown ones.
In you, O Lord, I take refuge: let me never be put to shame.
Lord, increase our faith.
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner!
Jesus, Jesus, always be Jesus to me.
Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you.
Lord, that I may see.
Lord, what do you want me to do?
Mother of fair love, help your children.
My Lord and my God.
Not as I will, but as you will.
Queen of Apostles, pray for us.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, grant us peace.
Show that you are our mother.
Sweet Heart of Mary, prepare a safe way for us.

Cor mundum crea in me, Deus (Ps 51:12).
Cor contrítum, et humiliátum, Deus, non despícies (Ps 51:17).
Pauper servus et húmilis.
Deo omnis glória.
Diligéntibus Deum ómnia cooperántur in bonum (Rom 3:28).
Quia tu es, Deus, fortitúdo mea (Ps 43:2).
Illum oportet créscere, me autem mínui (Jn 3:30).
Ecce ego, quia vocásti me (1 Sm 3:5).
Sancta María, spes nostra, sedes sapiéntiæ, ora pro nobis.
Sancta María, spes nostra, ancílla Dómini, ora pro nobis.
Sancta María, stella maris, filios tuos ádiuva.
Omnia possum in eo qui me confórtat (Phil 4:13).
Credo, sed ádiuva incre-dulitátem meam (Mk 9:24).
Ago tibi grátias pro univérsis benefíciis tuis, étiam ignótis.
In te, Dómine, sperávi; non confúndar in ætérnum (Ps 31:1).
Adauge nobis fidem (Lk 17:5).
Iesu, fili David, miserére mei peccatóris (Mk 10:47).
Iesu, Iesu, esto mihi semper Iesus.
Dómine, tu ómnia nosti; tu scis quia amo te (Jn 21:17).
Dómine, ut vídeam (Lk 18:41).
Dómine, quid me vis fácere? (Acts 22:10).
Mater pulchræ dilectiónis, fílios tuos ádiuva.
Dóminus meus et Deus meus! (Jn 20:28).
Non volúntas mea, sed tua fiat (Mt 26:39).
Regína apostolórum, ora pro nobis.
Cor Iesu sacratíssimum, dona nobis pacem.
Monstra te esse matrem.
Cor Maríæ dulcíssimum, iter para tutum.