By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.payingattentiontothesky.files.wordpress.com “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.” This is the way St.
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Mary is a genuine expression of Grace. She represents the new Israel, which the Scriptures of the Old Testament describe with the symbol of the bride.
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The Immaculata: at once "remnant of Israel" and "New Israel"
Reading 1 Rv 7:2-4, 9-14I, John, saw another angel come up from the East,holding the seal of the living God.He cried out in a loud voice to the four angelswho were given power to damage the land and the sea,”Do not damage the land or the sea or the treesuntil we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal,one hundred and forty-four thousand markedfrom every tribe of the children of Israel.After this I had a vision of a great multitude,which no one could count,from every nation, race, people, and tongue.They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.They cried out in a loud voice:”Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne,and from the Lamb.”All the angels stood around the throneand around the elders and the four living creatures.They prostrated themselves before the throne,worshiped God, and exclaimed:”Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,honor, power, and mightbe to our God forever and ever
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Can a person approach sex purely logically? That is what those who reject most sexual ethics claim to be doing.
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Ever tried to use the amount of toothpaste that gets put on the brush in a toothpaste commercial? I don’t know about you, but I grew up using just a smidge of that amount. Using the TV prescribed amount just meant that blue toothpaste globs got stuck to the bottom of the sink! But some marketing person somewhere back in the sixties decided that toothpaste would sell better if we all loaded our toothbrushes with more than we actually need to clean our teeth. Marketers also want us to glop on the shampoo, bodywash, shaving cream and other personal care products out there in advertising land.
Come to think of it, most commercials for almost any product that you care to name exaggerate the amount we need, because commercials are promoting consumption to the max. In many cases, we can get away with using half — or even less than half — of what’s portrayed in advertisements. And if we cut the amount in half and find it’s still too much, or not quite enough, we have the ability to adjust our amounts. We’re fortunate in that regard. How often do we think about our brothers and sisters who have to skimp on everything just to get by?
So today’s simple suggestion is to make a conscious effort to use half as much of the commercial products in our lives. If we give some thought to it, we become more conscious of how blessed we are, and if we can get away with using less, we’re saving $$ — and our planet’s valuable resources, which are worth more than $$.
Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.
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Always a treat to walk or drive through the old Catholic towns and villages of Quebec.
You see lots of old Catholic buildings. Today, like a shell. One church steeple I followed turned out to now be a nursing home.
Quebec was the crown jewel of North American Catholicism. Small wonder Satan launched his sixties attack here.
The Church will always pay for Her sin. In gold. Jansenism always came back to bite us.
Honestly, the only solution to saving what’s left in this land, in my opinion, is the Tridentine Rite. When all else fails, bring out the big guns.
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Ejected, exiled, homeless, Eden banned,
no fires called Adam home at end of day
but Eve’s; and there alone where Sarah lay
held nomad Abram any share of land.
Beside the garden locked seemed naught but sand
to Solomon his court in royal array;
and home enough was Egypt’s farthest quay
to Joseph, if but Mary held his hand.
No, on this earth man has no fixed abode,
but seldom reaping what few fields he sows.
Yet to this rootless, shipwrecked traveller’s life
comes oft a woman’s heart to share the load,
be tent and hearth, and go where’er he goes:
God pities him and fashions him a wife.
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A couple of weeks ago a retired Greek pharmacist shot himself outside the country’s parliament in protest at austerity measures that include major cuts to pensions. But alongside this story of despairing protest comes news of youths who are adapting to their country’s plight by getting back to basics.
Applications to the American Farm School near Thessaloniki trebled last year and are expected to double this year. Many young Greeks have a patch of land inherited from an elderly parent or grandparent and it seems that they are looking to at least provide themselves with food.
Historically, the farm school’s applicants had been children of farmers from the surrounding countryside, but now more and more city kids are expressing an interest: a sign that the tables are turning for this formerly unpopular career.
“To be honest, it was not my first choice,” admitted Thanos Bizbiroulas, who is in his first year studying for a degree in precision agriculture, “but in the current conditions it seems like the right choice,” he continued.
Fellow student Vangelis Evangelou agrees that prospects are looking up for the profession. “Young people thought that the future would be working in an office,” he said, “but now they know they were wrong and they are going back to farming.”
The Farm School, founded by a Christian missionary over 100 years ago, today boasts some of the most high tech facilities in the country. Agriculture declined when Greece joined the European Union several decades ago (I believe this was the story in Ireland also) but the sector grew by 32,000 jobs between 2008 and 2010 — mostly filled by Greek nationals — and the new breed of farmers will be more skilled and entrepreneurial than before.
A high school student who is also studying journalism at the Farm School displays a sturdy sort of spirit that should help Greece become economically stable once again:
“No matter how much the taxes are increased or the salaries are decreased, if you have knowledge of farming and produce food on your own, you won’t feel the influence of the economic burden as much,” she said. “You can always, at least, survive.”
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On 25 April, the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine cancelled the resolution of the court of appeal and confirmed the prohibition by the Economic Court of Kyiv of construction and maintenance works in the land plot at 17-23 Olesia Honchara Street.
Representatives of the Kyiv State City Administration reported to Кorespondent that the Kyiv State City Administration and Public Prosecutor’s Office submitted the appeal regarding the resolution of the Kyiv Economic Court of Appeal on 7 March.
“Today’s decision of the Court is a joint success of the authorities and society in the efforts to stop the scandalous development in the center of the capital. We are doing everything possible according to the effective law to stop the barbarian construction at Olesia Honchara Street which directly threatens an outstanding architectural monument, the Sophia of Kyiv,” stated the head of the Kyiv State City Administration, Oleksandr Popov.
The decision comes into effect from the moment of announcement thereof.
From:
Jonathan McDonald
1. Canticum
As a youth, St. Joseph is foretold in a dream of his marriage to the Theotokos.
I dreamed a dream one week ago,
That the moon, the sun, the stars, would bow to me,
Like a wife to the will of her lord,
Like a son to his father,
Like a slave to his master.
And I was
cut to the bone,
weak in my knees,
churned in belly,
trembling in hand,
plucked in sinew.
I told my dream to my brother
in confidence,
and he shared the shame of my heart to my father and mother and brothers,
and they mocked me.
Am I a man or a boy,
that I should weep at every hurt?
that I should recoil at every touch?
that I should pluck out my eyes at every disagreeable vision?
What happened to your strength, oh man?
I am the first to read the scriptures in the home,
the loudest to chant the psalms in the synagogue,
the most generous in my sacrifices at the temple,
and yet I am
empty.
My colored coat of prayers does not warm me at night.
I am counted among them that go down into the pit,
betrayed by his brothers
to the hands of the Gentiles
and the land of strange sands and sphinxes.
But in my dreams the star of the sea
—she on whose lap Leviathan lays his head
like a unicorn with a maiden—
bows to me,
slender as Sarah, resplendent as Rebekah, strong-eyed as Rachel.
Virgin, maiden, sister,
whose breasts are not yet grown,
I would be your wall,
and you like a tower of silver within.
You will conceive and bear a son,
and I will call him out of Egypt,
for that is where I live,
far from my family,
away from home,
sold on discount,
to a king who
worships
Ra.
Be
Asenath,
black but
beautiful, and
let your hair fall
all around my body.
Speak “fiat” to me, my love,
open to me, my dove, my undefiled,
and I will open my heart to you, this heart of nerves.
Our love will level mountains and fill in valleys,
to make straight crooked ways.
Until then my heart is pierced
with the sword of betrayal,
of disappointment,
of calumny,
of pride.
2. Diligam te, Domine
He joins the Zealots in adulthood.
Hurrah, hurrah!
The nations will crawl,
From heathen domains,
To purchase our grain.
We’ll shatter their knees,
And steal Caesar’s keys,
For power and dominion,
O’er Samael’s kingdom!
Hurrah, hurrum!
Let’s rap the drum,
That Ichabod stole,
From the Roman patrol,
And bury the head,
Of Tiberias dead,
At Mount Sion’s foot,
And we’ll mock with salutes.
Hurrah, hurray!
Let’s make them beg,
For birds plucked and carved,
While their bellies starve.
Our God is a lion,
Devouring Rome’s scions.
When soldiers debark,
They’re burned by the Ark!
Hurrah, hurroh!
My heart is a stone,
Smashing the nose,
Crushing the toes,
Filling the earth,
Grinding out mirth,
Whipping at ease,
Burying peace.
3. Epithalamion
His heart is made perfect in marriage.
The nuptial chamber of my bride is chaste,
Thus I do not touch my sister, my wife.
My heart pounds strong, yet she bides unembraced,
By grey-haired arms so late now revived.
Our progeny will fill the earth, my moon,
You unweeping Hannah, who needed not,
A mewling babe to fill your vowed womb,
But love’s as strong as life, child, and as hot.
Your angel came to me tonight, and spake:
“Bring Mary and the child to Egypt dry.”
There will I find healing for my mistake,
Receiving homage from the starry sky.
To adore and be adored, by his heart,
You the quick doe and I the mountained hart.
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I posted this originally on May 11th 2009, less than 3 months into the Obama regime. It is a warning from over 50 years ago, and since the Obama regime has been in power, this cartoon is even more relevant, and the predictions contained therein are coming to pass before our eyes in real time. This is why it is crucial that we stay cool, and do not take the bait that the reghime is putting out there, and stay focused on defeating this regime at the ballot box, based on their record of economic failure, which is the direct result of what this video speaks of: pitting people against each other through class warfare.
We need to get back to the point where, no matter your station in life is, get back to the idea that we all benefit when nobody goes running to government for solutions.
the best solution, and it is fsr from perfect (perfection doesn’t exist this side of eternity) is a goverment which is limited to nothing more than protecting its citizens from aggression against their lives livelihoods and property by means of objective laws against force and fraud, and the means to enforce those laws, and to protect the land and its citizens from outside threats.
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I have read that when the proportion of the population that is Muslim reaches 20%, there is no turning-back. The extremists will push their ideology and, because of their fierce allegiance to radical Islam, those in their way will be crushed.
I have read that this is happening in some cities in Europe and it is also happening in England. It is not well reported over here in the west, we should be paying more attention. The call for Sharia law to be used in court decisions has already come up, and our judges need to resist this.
Immigrants must adhere to the laws of the land to which they emigrate. Period.
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Sorry I missed last week… I was pretty wrapped up in the youth conference at Holy Trinity Parish. Here’s one for this week, the fifth Sunday of Lent:
Today’s first reading comes from Jeremiah 31:31-34 (how God promises to make a new covenant, writing it on our hearts), the Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 51 “Create in me a clean heart, o God”, the 2nd reading is Hebrews 5:7-9 (how Jesus made his prayer and sufferings on our account), and the Gospel comes from John 12:20-33 (the Greeks wish to see Jesus, and Jesus points towards his suffering and glorification that is to come.)
You can read the readings in their entirety here on the USCCB website.
The Old Testament tells us all about the ways in which God intervened in human history, rescuing the Israelite people in different crises: for example, when Moses led the people out of Egypt, or David leading them in battle against the Philistines. It’s assumed that many misunderstood Jesus as the Messiah in large part because they were expecting a military leader who would rescue them from a military occupation.
Today’s readings at Mass point towards the rescue Jesus actually came to accomplish. In the first reading, he says that “It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt” but rather promising that “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Psalm 51 prays “A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.” The author of the Letter to the Hebrews states that Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,” and Jesus Himself points towards what He means in the Gospel: ”Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”
Where the rescue from Egypt or the Philistines was obvious for everyone to see; our rescue from sin was less obvious. Some of the apostles initially missed the point, heading back to their old lives after Jesus’ death- but the idea was that our lives were never meant to be the same. Much like the hand of winter, whose grip on our lives is melting away… Jesus died so that the grip of sin might melt away, and the beauty, joy, and LIFE of springtime could be felt in our lives. Being freed from sin means heading into something new- a life without sin, not centered on ourselves, with a pure heart and steadfast spirit.
Have a great Sunday!
Taken from:
Book of Genesis 22:1-2.9a.10-13.15-18.
Some time after these events, God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, “Abraham!” “Ready!” he replied. Then God said: “Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you.”
When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac, and put him on top of the wood on the altar. Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the LORD’S messenger called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. “Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the messenger. “Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.”
As Abraham looked about, he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So he went and took the ram and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son. Again the LORD’S messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said: “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing–all this because you obeyed my command.’
Psalms 116(115):10.15.16-17.18-19.
I kept faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted!”
Too costly in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful.
LORD, I am your servant,
your servant, the child of your maidservant;
you have loosed my bonds.
I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem. Hallelujah!
Letter to the Romans 8:31b-34.
What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?
Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who acquits us. Who will condemn? It is Christ (Jesus) who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 9:2-10.
Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.
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Okay,.so far we got off to a reasonable start, didn’t ruffle too many feathers by only stating some historical/theological contexts, namely the dynamic inter-relationship between the Abrahamic Faiths. Of course this is but a small bucket of water, in the ocean of a much larger political science domain. So ,.for today, we are going to skip forward to the Jews already living in diaspora forming a commission calling for the establishment of a Jewish homeland on the geograpical area known as Palestine. By now, the Jewish people, the Ashkenazi are basically considered Europeans whose religion happens to be Judaism. On the other hand the Sephardic are the Jews which remained in the Middle East spread throughout Iraq, Iran and yes,.(sorry left leaning pundits,) Palestine! Here goes….
In 1897,..Theodore Herzl founded the Zionist congress. It’s initial aim was to build a network with the specific aim of establishing and maintaining a Jewish State in the land of Palestine,.. The Arabs, still under Ottoman ‘mindset’ sought to secularize, if not remake their ‘Islamic’ face (Turkey) and thus set in 1911, what was called Al-Fayat. This group, in a nutshell called for greator Arab autonomy within the Ottoman world.
So,..here comes World War 1,..and several key dates,..the 1915 Hussein-McMahon communique which promises an Arab country, BUT it should be noted,..NEVER mentions the specifics that it would be on the land of Palestine! Remember that the world is still in a mess after the first world war, so different European countries assume control of certain lands in the Middle East. France assumes control of Lebanon and Syria while Britian assumes control over the land of Palestine.
On November 2 of 1917,..the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Belfour informs Lord Rothschild that his government would oversee the establishment of a Jewish State on the land of Palestine,..(the letter) …So conclude part two,..we can dispel the myth that Israel was only created because of the Shoa,..that it had in fact been a work in progress. The Balfour declaration was way before WWII….Stay tuned for part three…
Our Lady of Ville Marie,……….ora pro nobis
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Sometimes I often wonder whether by writing an editorial like this, I will anger people on both sides of this equation. Well,..essentially that is my point and I really don’t care. I mean, I graduated with a degree in political science after all so why wouldn’t I be able to weigh in at least intelligently on such a political hot potato, and why now? Well,..over the last few days, I’ve received arguments from both sides, intelligent ones to boot, yet either side seems to be calling out the other ones so-called ‘facts.’ As best I can,..I’m gonna try to weigh in on this issue….
Before I do, I think we all need a little primer as to what the tale of the Tape between both of these ‘peoples’ would read,..so for that, in brief, for today,..we’ll concentrate on history…
The Israeli/Palestinian conflict cannot be understood by the Western mindset without a firm grasp of the other’s theology. In this light, both sides, claim as the source of justification that God gave to them the land. The Israelis cite the Torah specifically Exodus,..while the Muslims understand this in terms of Dar Al-Harb vs Dar Al-Islam. Insert into this quagmire, certain groups of Evangelical Christians adhering to dispensationalist theology, (a heresy btw..) which views the return of the Jews to their homeland as a necessary primer to usher in the third coming of Christ. (I say ‘third’ because, according to their theology, Jesus will appear in the sky and rapture all true believers,..before he returns as Just Judge..)
The land located in the middle east has a long history and can be argued is one of the oldest of all to be inhabited. Through settlements, at God’s command, the Jewish people at roughly 950 bce (disputed..) established the United kingdom of Israel which later split into North and South,(Judea). The Romans would later conquer the land in roughly 5-6 Ad,.(this pressupposes the birth of Christ at around 4-3 bce.) yet although the Romans conquered it, as was their custom, they left it as a province so to speak and it continued to be governed by jewish authorities. When the Roman, empire became Christian in 313ad, ‘Palestine’ also became Christian and thus, a center for many monks and religious. It was during this time, that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Nativity and others were being built.
Enter the conquest,..this time, by the muslim army. Caliph Umar enters Palestine in 638ad and a complete ransack begins. Sorry, again to the revisionist historians who claim that life under Islamic law was nothing but candy canes, roses, rainbows and leprechauns,..again not quite true. The time of the Crusades took place and battled for the Holy sites…To read about more of this,….see here. You might not like Voris style,..but his sources are impeccable!
That’s all for today,..but we need this lense in order to go forward within this analysis. The ‘Religious right’ don’t accept the fact that we as Catholics must view this as a political matter, not a theological one. The Catholic Church is the bride of Christ and thus the continuation of Israel as people of God…..Coming soon Part 2,..whereby I will attempt to break down key important dates stemming from the British ruled Palestine to now…..
Our Lady of Ville Marie,……………Ora pro nobis
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We spent most of the twelve days in cozy Combermere…
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| the chicken house, where dad’s beloved hens are warm and spoiled….and still laying. |
…which was delicious and wonderful. Everyone was sick with the flu, but Christmas is a good time for napping by the fire, sipping tea, and finishing handmade Christmas presents.
I made Matthias some little pants out of an old felted wool sweater. He looks like a little Scandinavian elf…
…and elf-like, he is nearly impossible to capture on camera. There was just enough sweater left over to make some leggings for Rafe. They protect him against drafts and the wool is so warm and cozy.
Just in time for the deep cold.
I’m knitting Will’s other sock—my first pair! I don’t know if I can adequately express the feeling of positive glory when I rounded that first heel. I can only compare it to Columbus’ first sighting of land, or whats-his-name who was silent on a peak of Darien. The glory. The socks are beauties, but dang, even Will will have to wear them
over
his other socks. They are Simply Enormous.
Will studied and wrote papers all holidays, but not without getting in touch with his inner bananagram-champion. My sister and he did a Latin version of bananagrams, if you can imagine. I sat out and pretended to nurse the baby. My dad was awarded the prize for his enormous and impressive lies about word definitions.
Back home now, we are coddling the sickies, having another cookie, and savoring these slow days of Christmas.
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Greetings everyone!
I was browsing over the internet the other day and I came across an art installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude called “Umbrellas”
Executed in 1991, Umbrellas consisted of 3100 massive umbrellas being open and displayed on both sides of the Pacific, in Japan and California.
What struck me about the work was its elegant simplicity. The free standing Umbrellas were designed to:
“ ….reflect the availability of the land in each valley, creating an invitational inner space, as houses without walls, or temporary settlements and related to the ephemeral character of the work of art.”
To give an idea of scale, each umbrella was 26 ft in diameter and 19 feet high. To understand what that means, the average two car garage is 19 feet by 18 feet and the standard height of a room is 8 feet tall. In other words each umbrella covered an area of 530 square feet and encompassed a volume of 10 082 cubic feet.
For some reason north American culture has adopted a mentality that bigger is better, especially in the area of housing. If it is not obvious yet, my family and I live in a way that is somewhat counter cultural….our family of 9 lives in a 1375sqft town house. There are families of 3 in that live in houses that are 3500sqft.
Now I am not saying that we intend to stay in a house this size, in fact, we are in the process of house hunting in amongst all the other things we are doing! However, consider the following:
The common Yurt Mongolian families have lived in for centuries, is 16 ft in diameter. Which is a footprint of about 296sqft….that is smaller than a two car garage! So essentially these umbrellas represent a Mongolian mansion!
Especially when you take into account that a the equivalent two story house would stand about 16 ft (that is of course a bare minimum slab on grade two story house with no basement and a pretty flat roof….not too common here but common enough in other places in the world where they don’t get much snow or rain)
I think what impressed me most about the artists themselves is that they are completely self funded! Which means, they are free to make their own subtle statements with out having to worry about reflecting the bias of a particular sponsor….which is often a hidden presence in commissioned art. And in that way they can truly be individual.
Anyway here is a link to their work!
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