..::Praised Be Jesus Christ::..

+JMJ
Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your holy angels! It seems that pictures have invaded my posts! I guess that does make things interesting at least! I am posting again to share with you some pictures of a friend of mine that entered the PCPA's in Portsmouth, OH at St. Joseph Monastery on Divine Mercy Sunday. They are all beautiful pictures and Sister Denise is absolutly wonderful! You can visit them at www.stjosephmonastery.com, but remember, it doesn't work on firefox for some reason!

Also, these dear Sisters have a 'wish list' still. If you can assist them in anyway, please contact them via the information listed here.
This is what they need as of now:

† We were given 35 solid wood chairs and they need to be refinished & repaired. Any suggestions on how to accomplished this?

† Help with distributing brochures

† Ornate Chalices, Ciborium's

† Beautiful Vestment in honor of St. Joseph † Beautiful Vestment in honor of Our Lady

† Benefactors - to help with the building of our New Monastery

As of now, this is all the help they have received! Blessed be God!

† Riding Lawn mower

† 2 sets of Bunk beds

† Religious Books

† Printer

† Phone Cards

† Lunette

† Extra large Crock Pot

† Loaf pans for baking bread

† 2 Garden Hoes & 1 Shovel

† Computer

Please help if you can! They will remember you in their prayers!

Entrance Ceremony of Denise McClain

" Dear daughter, what do you seek?"

- - -

" Dear Rev. Mother, I beg most humbly for

the love of God, to be admitted into this Community,

so that I may more securely work out the salvation

of my soul, by dedicating myself to the

Perpetual Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament

in the order of our Seraphic Father, Saint Francis,

and our holy Mother Saint Clare."

I wish this picture of their cat would show up on my blog, but I am having technical difficulties! Maybe you can see it if you click here. Yay for Nuns and kitties! This may be my favorite combo EVER!

..::Blessed Be God::..

+JMJ
Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your holy angels! Not much to report today. I did want to share the link to the phatmass radio. It has been kind of insider knowledge for some time, but it is some great CATHOLIC hip hop, rock, rap, and you can learn some Greogorian chant! It's great to just have playing when you need something with a beat. I do have much work to do this week before finals week, so I think this may be it for today. If you want something good to read, visit The Curt Jester, Closed Cafeteria, Lumen de Lumine, or ...And If Not... God bless you abundantly and be holy!

Lord, Thy Will Be Done!

..::Praised Be Jesus Christ::..

+JMJ

Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your holy angels! It is a wonderful Monday and the birds are chirping and things are green. It is certainly wonderful to see. Thank you most merciful Lord for this gift! Well, I had a busy weekend! Sometimes I wish I had less to do, but it was all wonderful all the same. Friday evening I was blessed with going to see the Daughters of St. Paul here in Chicago with Lauren, whom I met in person for the first time. It was wonderful to see and talk with her and also meet the Daughters as well! We were there for First Friday Movie Night and saw The Mission. It was a beautiful movie, but very deep and inspiring as well. If you haven't seen it, I would suggest it!
Saturday afternoon (I slept in, I was going to leave in the morning) I left to go home to drop some things off, including the suitcase that my mom needed for today. I also brought home somethings from my dorm so there is less to take home when I leave next week. We went home, my sister and I worked on her project that was due today, and we had some leftovers and watched some TV. The thing that really disturbed me was that the show she was watching on DiscoveryKids was teaching the kids how to make their own ouija board! I think my sister may have fallen asleep by then, thank God, but it is disturbing that they encourage children to play with these things of the occult!
Sunday morning I got up maybe about 7 or 8. I cannot remember currently, but I hopped in the shower and got ready to head back to school. I left about 9:40 and got back about 10:30ish. Then I just had to wait for Mr. Zak to call about picking me up and bringing me to Imago Dei. He called, and about 11:45 picked me up in the St. Pat's school bus. It has been forever since I've ridden in one of those! It was also very cool because of the Catholic stuff in it.
So we got there a-okay and unloaded and helped set up. Then some of us were sent on a McDonald's mission to get lunch for the 20+ kids that had came with Mr. Zak. Sadly, I think they may have forgotten a few of the drinks and fries, but everyone did have something to eat. After that, things kinda got kicked off. There were many Sisters, Brothers and Priests there. It was fun just to walk around and see who was what and from where. Sisters would always be coaxing me over to chat with them. It was nice to hear about them all and they were all wonderful. I did take a few pictures, and I'll share them with you, but I may have to explain some of them.
As for the pictures, I did not get any pictures of Fr. Stan, the (NEW) Auxilary Bishop of Chicago, Gerard, or of the Nashville Dominican that had spoken. I just felt that I shouldn't because no one else was. But I did get some pictures of the set up and the church (Very beautiful church I may add!) along with just some Sisters that were hanging around. Now, there is a picture of a Sister who is dancing like a mad woman. The picture does show the extent of the madness, but oh my goodness. Wow is all I have to say. So that may explain things, so enjoy the pictures!
It was a wonderful event and seeing Sisters and talking to them, and also getting their prayers was great as well! I got to see Joe, a friend of mine who I haven't seen in a loooong time, and that was great itself! (I hope he doesn't see this, it might inflate his ego some more, lol) I think Mr. Zak may have been telling some Sisters about my own discernment and such and the plans to enter the Poor Clare Colettines, but it was wonderful to have so many praying for me. Last night before leaving and after Mass was probably the best part of the evening. I was just filled with so much joy and love. It was a wonderful blessing to be reassured and have courage to do what needs to be done in these coming weeks. I also thought about how many religious I have praying for me! I am sure it may be nearing 50! Another thought to blow one's mind away. Fr. Stan Fortuna also blessed my Franciscan Crown which also made me very happy. I'm extra happy it was a Franciscan that blessed it too.
This afternoon, I was also checking out a few websites of some of the communities there, and one of them in their 'recommended readings' section had recommended a book of Sr. Joan Chittister's. That was a little unnerving. It was also wonderful talking to one of the Sisters who said 'Bingo!' when I had explained to her the joy and the peace from visiting the Poor Clares. She was so sweet and so lovable!
One last things before I am through! The Summit Dominicans have some lovely medals comemorating 800 years of the first foundation of Dominican Nuns! Here is what their site says about it:

This lovely medal, designed by our postulant, Sr. Greta, depicts our founder, St. Dominic de Guzman, accepting the vows of the first nuns at Prouilhe. The inscription (in Latin) encircling the top of the medal is "MONIALES ORDINIS PRAEDICATORUM" ("Nuns of the Order of Preachers") with the foundation year, 1206, and the eighth centenary year, 2006, at the bottom.

The medals themselves are beautiful and only $3 (that includes shipping and handling)! Beautiful Dominican Nuns make beautiful Dominican medals! Buy yours here!

That is all from me today! God bless and be holy!

Lord, Thy Will Be Done!

..::Blessed Be God::..

+JMJ

Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your holy angels! Well, some late night snooping and I have stumbled across the Swiss Guard website. So many cool pictures! Old and new alike! Also, it appears they have a flag! I cannot get a good look at it but I'll share a picture with it in it... It definatly has the Papal crest on it. The one of John Paul the Great to boot! Whoo hoo! There are tons of cool pictures, especially of the different uniforms. Gala, Gran Gala, Drill Uniform and tons of others! There is a link to postcards and you have to use some transliteration to figure out which link you should click to get to the post cards. But it is so awesome! Oh, and incase you were looking for a link, you can try here at: http://www.schweizergarde.org/
Make sure you click english as the language unless you prefer a foreign language. You also have to admit, they have some super snazzy pants. I'll include some more pictures because they are fun! I also threw in a postcard for your enjoyment! If someone could tell me who that Pontiff is, I'll think about giving you a cookie (or a little spiritual bouquet!)

What is it that really makes the Swiss Guard so fun? The pants? The Uniform as a whole? The requirements? The fact that they scolded one of the shutter bugs who came with us to WYD while they, the shutter bug, attempted to take a photo of them while still in St. Peter's? Who knows, but they protect our beloved Pontiff and they love him as much as we do and that is all that matters to me.

Now for some fun 'facts' from the Swiss Guard's site:

Swiss Guards are practising Catholics. They operate daily in the heart of the Roman Curia, continuously meet people on their pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Prince of the Apostles and participate in the liturgical celebrations inside the Vatican.

It is obvious that by their religious faith and practice, the Swiss Guards are the Holy Father's "visiting card".

Totally awesome. The Holy Father's 'visiting card.' Ha! I kinda like the sound of that...
Some more:

Those in charge of the Pope's security must have irreproachable reputations.

Now you know you can always trust a Swiss Guard ;)
Still more:

Anyone who wants to become a Swiss Guard had better decide early. Our Corps is a young one. Often, older recruits find it more difficult to integrate. We do not accept candidates who are over 30 years of age. However, under certain conditions, former Guards can return to the Corps.

Wow, this sounds a lot like a religious community! A lot like many cloistered communities! Crazy!
He he... still more... This is just fascinating!

The Guards are housed in double or triple rooms. At the beginning they are in dormitories.

The camaraderie between young unmarried men should not be undervalued.

A mixed Corps is not appropriate in our service and community life.

Hmmmm... that last one remind you of something else? This is all so cool! I think I might spend sometime in the future reading more about them. Definatly a very cool and I guess a little quirky (well, at least the uniform) part of our Catholic tradition. God bless you abundantly and be holy!

Lord, Thy Will Be Done!

..::Praised Be Jesus Christ::..

+JMJ

Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your holy angels! Happy Easter to all!

Today I think I will rant. A rant about a need for sacred artists. No, I'm not talking about the ones that 'wreckovate' Churches or make God-awful sculptures and 'interpretive' images. I'm talking about making churches look like churches. Including sacred art and architecture that really leads one into a prayerful spirit. Brickwalls unadorned and huge aren't exactly prayer evoking. Neither are warehouses and buildings meant for other purposes. What happened in the world of sacred art? Seriously. I know that once we hit the 20th century we had Dada and surrealism, cubism and the whole lot. Even before that we had van Gogh and Cezanne shocking people with their 'scandalous' methods. Today we look at them and see no shock. We are used to it. I am not saying that modern art is bad or terrible. I am just saying that it really doesn't have a home in the church (and that is church with a little c, mind you). Sacred art should become sacred. I'd like to use the Eastern Church and their icons as an example. People are still writing these icons the same way they were back in the times of Byzantium. Very little has changed about it. These icons continue to adorn the Eastern churches, even in some very modern looking ones. These holy images are 'windows to heaven.' Sometimes, looking back, I find myself as more of a Poussinist. I believe that art should have a honorable and noteworthy subject. That is just me. I enjoy abstract art, I even do a little 'modern' art myself, but I do find that sacred art is a genre/style set apart from all these styles of our modern age. Images of the Baroque evoke some of the same emotions and passions, and I would say far more than some images done in an abstracted or stylized manner. Why? It could be because they are spelled out before us dramatically. It is life-like, something we can see actually happening. The images become real. These are no longer just events in 'some ancient book'. No. They are real things that happened to real people. Put Jesus in all time. Not just this time, but eternally. And, no, I don't mean futuristic or aliens by this. You can show Jesus with people of our time, ordinary people. I find the lack of real sacred art and sacred architecture a real travesty in today's churches, but it is also a relief that it is returning in some newly built churches. So long styles of the 60s! See-ya 70's! Adios 80's! Welcome Jesus Christ! May You be praised everywhere always! Eternal Lord, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God Forever and Ever.

The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
-Michelangelo

Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art.
-Leonardo DaVinci

..::Blessed Be God::..

+JMJ
Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your holy angels! Holy Week is upon us again, but not as a thick, suffocating depression, but as hope, because we know that after Good Friday comes the Glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday! It is also the last ditch effort with our Lenten promises, seeing as Lent ends officially Holy Thursday. It is also a time not to let our guard down either. The Evil One knows what kinds of graces and blessings are waiting for us this Holy Week. He does not want us to grow closer, but widen the gap and increase our inner turmoil. Listen not to the voice of the evil one or the flesh, nor the world. Listen only to the voice of Christ speaking in your heart! Pray that you may hear His voice. Pray to the Blessed Mother! Pray to the Angels! Pray to the Saints! All of them more than happy to assist you! Be in constant prayerful vigil these days, even more than you should be on all other days.

Pray also that you might learn to love God more and more these days. Love the Lord with everything you are and with everything you do! Let not a moment be wasted on idle earthly things with the treasures and graces are always there to meditate on! This week, meditate most passionately on the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is in Him where all our love, all our wants, and all our treasures are.

Remember also, as you gather in graces and blessings to remember the Church Suffering. Pray that they may speedily be purged and able to enter the glory of heaven and the ranks of the Church Triumphant, where they will always be willing to pray for you and intercede for you in return for your help to them.

I know that there are many that are so glad that Easter is so close, and rightfully glad! But I know also that there are many still in pain, and not of their own accord. Remember them also. Offer up your happiness for those who have nothing to be happy about. Offer up your joys to those with only sorrow. When you are in sorrow and pain, remember how courageously and most beautifully Our Lord endured the sufferings of His death, and not because He rightly deserved that punishment. No. We are the sinners. We are the ones who should have been suffering with such terrible agony. But our God is a most merciful God and has such a great and immense love for us, that He would rather sacrifice Himself that we would be saved. He took on the curse that the Israelites had took upon themselves when the covenant was broken. He did not want His people to be a cursed people. No, His people where to be blessed and free. In this, He died, redeeming not only the Israelites, His chosen people, but redeeming the world, including all the children of the world, all made in His image.

The Son of Man crucified is our hope, joy, and consolation. He is our everything. He gives so much to us. He has given us everything! Even unto giving Himself to us everyday in Holy Communion. How much more can we do to repay Him, but it will never be enough. It seems all we can do is but a little speck in the universe. But He will love us always, and is greatly pleased when we do His Will, and do our best to please Him and to love Him. On this note, I wish to share a prayer for after receiving Holy Communion:

What Shall I Give Thee?

I have received into my heart, Jesus Christ, His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity! I begin this day as a day in Heaven. He is in my soul: The Divine Infant in the crib, the growing Boy at Nazareth, the Apostle acclaimed by crowds on the roads of Galilee, the Miracle Worker Who performed such prodigies, the Martyr Who completed His Sacrifice on Calvary.

He is in me. What more can I desire when I possess Jesus?

And now, O Good Master, what shall I give to Thee in exchange for Thy visit? I would like to give Thee a soul all sparkling with purity and sincerity, but mine is afflicted with so many miseries!

I would like to pray to Thee with the burning words of Thy Mother and her court in Heaven, but I feel riveted to earthly things.

I would like to offer Thee courageous loyalty to my Baptismal Vows and Confirmation Graces, but, alas, I have so often been disloyal.

I would like, at least, to have a desire for the Christian life, but I allow myself to be discouraged by my failures.

O good Jesus! I have nothing to give Thee and Thou hast given Everything: Thou hast given Thyself to me. I can only join my poor voice in the chorus of praise to Thee, rising out of all the works of Thy creation here on earth:

With the majesty of the mountains, the immensity of the desert, the roar of the ocean, the fury of the storm, I shall praise Thy Power!

With the flowers of the field, the colors of the rainbow, the whiteness of the snow, the blue of the skies, I shall praise Thy Beauty!

With the fruits of the earth, the air I breathe, the light I see, the life I enjoy, I shall praise Thy Goodness!

With the splendor of the stars, the rays of the sun, the moon's pale light, the depths of space, I shall praise Thy Immensity!

With six billion people now living on earth, I shall praise Thy Mercy!

May our voices unite with the billions of those who inhabited the earth before us, and out of whose dust the beauty of nature perpetually rises to praise Thy Glory!

May an infinite concert of voices from cottages and palaces, from fields and forests, from towns and deserts, from workshops and cathedrals, from earth and from heaven, from time and from eternity, arise to give my thanks unto Thee!
Amen.

Praise God Always and Be Holy.

..::Praised Be Jesus Christ::..

+JMJ
Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your companion! All is well here and I hope the same where you are at! I will be leaving to visit the Poor Clares this week! I was hoping to be able to stay through the weekend, but it looks like my mother will need me at home on Friday night. I am a little dismayed, but hopefully the 2 (closer to 3) days that I will spend there will be joyful and peaceful. I want to stay the entire time, but I can't with my grandpa in the hospital and the fact that I need to clean and also visit with my family at home.

The Mother and Mistress of Wisdom speaks few words, but each is filled with great depth of meaning. We read that the Mother of Christ spoke seven times, seven words filled with wisdom!
-St. Bernardine of Siena

I don't know if I have made a formal announcement, but I have decided that I am going to drop out of college and work for a year, or until my debts (college loans, icky!) are paid off. I haven't told my mom and I pray that things will go well when I do. I think I will make a novena to St. Jude or St. Rita, or maybe both. I can make a short pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. Jude in Chicago, so that may also be part of the prep plan. Pray for me friends.

Every Cross that we see in the world becomes a silent reminder for us. The true victory that overcomes hatred in the world is ultimately self-sacrifice, in constant fidelity flowing from the power of love.
-Pope John Paul II

Now the following is the homily from Fr. Dominic Mary, MFVA on modesty. I thought it was an interesting read and would share it with you all:

Homily Given by Fr. Dominic Mary, MFVA on EWTN’s Televised Mass – 6.14.05

2 Cor 8:1-9 OLAM Chapel - 7am TV Mass

Psalm 146:2, 5-9 Tues week 11-Year I

St. Matthew 5:43-48 June 14, 2005

Today is Tuesday of the 11^th week of Ordinary Time. In today’s gospel we see the Lord Jesus continuing His Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew’s Gospel. He tells the people, and us through this holy Gospel, that they and we are to no longer hate our enemies, but rather, we are to love them. Furthermore, we are to pray for those who persecute us. We are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. We are called to holiness - and holiness includes loving and praying for those who do us wrong.

But you know, one of the things that comes to mind, especially with summer well under way in this part of the world, is the lack of love shown by so many people to their neighbor in the poor and immodest way in which they dress, especially while attending Holy Mass. And this immodesty is very much tied to the widespread impurity in our culture and society today. Immodesty is one of the biggest problems we have to face in dealing with purity in the West. The Ninth Commandment says that thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife. As the Catechism tells us, the struggle against carnal covetousness entails purifying the heart and practicing temperance (CCC, no. 2517). And purity requires modesty, which is an integral part of temperance (CCC, no. 2521). Modesty

protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons. (CCC, no. 2521)

Modesty protects the mystery of the person. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships. Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. (CCC, no. 2522)

And so modesty is a virtue. Included in the virtue of modesty is not only humility, but also in how one externally dresses (cf. John Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary, p. 356). But many today have rejected to practice this virtue so desperately needed in our current culture. Even to the most casual observer, immodesty in dress is seen as common place in our Churches. We have got to do all we can to help people to wake up and realize they are dressing way to immodestly, especially when it comes to entering a Church to worship God. We must be like the Vatican - just one example (cf. www. cathnews.com) - when there are heat waves in Rome the Vatican dress police, neatly dressed in pants, shirts and ties, turn back all tourists in shorts and bare shoulders trying to get into St. Peter’s Basilica. I’ve seen them do with my own eyes. These immodestly dressed people have to go and buy paper pants and shirts from vendors eagerly waiting outside.

Many people come to Church dressed like they are ready to go to the beach. You should not come to Church dressed in shorts, miniskirts, swimsuits, bikinis, tank-tops, dresses above the knees, bare shoulders, bare arms, low cut dresses, sleeveless shirts, very tight fitting clothing, etc. If you come to EWTN or the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, AL and you are not dressed properly don’t expect to get out of your car because we have a dress code here. And don’t even dare to come into the Chapel before our Lord. If you do, hopefully you will be caught by our security guards and asked to put on more clothing. We must return to having a holy fear for God and for His true Presence in the Eucharist and for being in His house. How can we expect to grow in the spiritual life if we are dressed like we don’t care? How dare we approach the Holy Eucharist dressed like we are going to the beach.

When a person dresses immodestly he or she can become an occasion of sin for other people. And this is the fashion for today. Each year it seems that the latest fashion is to see how little clothing one can wear and how much of one’s body can be shown. And what flesh is not shown is revealed by extremely tight clothing. To knowingly and intentionally dress like this is sinful, and can be even seriously sinful, because one become a temptation to sin for other people. We are all weak and can easily fall into many sins of impurity by someone else’s immodesty.

Before we go out or buy new clothes we should do a modesty check. Ladies, remember some simple guidelines in buying and wearing an outfit, which are modeled here after a well known modesty promoter (cf. Collen Hammond, Dressing with Dignity, www.valoramedia.com):

1. First of all, one guideline which can prove to very helpful (developed by either the Sacred Congregation of the Council under Pope Pius XI or from a Cardinal from Pope Pius XII=s office in 1956): A dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat, which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows, and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparent material are improper.

2. Does my back, belly or shoulders show? Does my back or belly show when I am bending or stretching? When bending over does my blouse hang down and open for all to see through?

3. Is my blouse or top to tight? Is it more loose fitting or is it too tight and revealing? Can one see the outline of my underwear through my tight-fitting clothing? Blouses and tops that are too tight are very immodest and say a lot about the woman who wears such a blouse or top.

4. Lastly, we are concerned about how much flesh is showing, but as one well known modesty promoter put it, modesty is not just about how much of our skin is showing, but how much of our feminine shape is showing (cf. Collen Hammond, Dressing with Dignity, www.valoramedia.com).

The way one dresses is a big determinant in what kind of person one will attract. Ladies, if you dress immodestly, what do you think you will attract? If you dress like a woman of the night you attract men of the night - men who want to use you, not to love you for who you are. Women want to be loved for who they are, not for the pleasure they can give to a man. Yet many dress so immodestly that all they attract is men who wish to love them for their body. If you want to attract a decent man, who will truly love you, then start by dressing like a woman who respects herself and her dignity as a woman. What you wear says a lot about you. By how you dress sends many messages to those who see you.

Let us love our neighbor, even our enemies: first, in relation to today’s Gospel, by dressing properly and modestly. Second, let us love, with a Christian love, those who do dress immodestly. Let us pray for them and try to gently help them. Let us dress properly. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8).

That is all dear friends! May God continue to bless you abundantly this lenten season!

Some quotes for you all:

When tempted, invoke your angel. He is more eager to help you than you are to be helped! Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him: He trembles and flees at the sight of your guardian angel.
St. John Bosco

The Church is a faithful and ever watchful guardian of the dogmas that have been entrusted to her charge. In this sacred deposit, she changes nothing, she takes nothing away, she adds nothing to it.
St. Vincent of Lerins

O happy confidence! O perfect refuge! The Mother of God is my Mother. What firm trust we should have, then, since our salvation depends on the judgments of a good Brother and a tender Mother!
St. Anselm of Canterbury

I ask you to pray for those who cannot pray and also for those who do not know how to pray. Pray too for all who have lost faith in God and in His mercy.
Pope John Paul II

There is no sin nor wrong that gives a man such a foretaste of hell in this life as anger and impatience.
St. Catherine of Siena

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.
St. Augustine of Hippo

..::Blessed Be God::..

+JMJ

I know this may be behind by quite a bit, but I wanted to have it posted here :)

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
BENEDICT XVI
FOR LENT 2006

“Jesus, at the sight of the crowds, was moved with pity” (Mt 9:36)

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Him Who is the fount of mercy. It is a pilgrimage in which He Himself accompanies us through the desert of our poverty, sustaining us on our way towards the intense joy of Easter. Even in the “valley of darkness” of which the Psalmist speaks (Ps 23:4), while the tempter prompts us to despair or to place a vain hope in the work of our own hands, God is there to guard us and sustain us. Yes, even today the Lord hears the cry of the multitudes longing for joy, peace, and love. As in every age, they feel abandoned. Yet, even in the desolation of misery, loneliness, violence and hunger that indiscriminately afflict children, adults, and the elderly, God does not allow darkness to prevail. In fact, in the words of my beloved Predecessor, Pope John Paul II, there is a “divine limit imposed upon evil”, namely, mercy (Memory and Identity, pp. 19ff.). It is with these thoughts in mind that I have chosen as my theme for this Message the Gospel text: “Jesus, at the sight of the crowds, was moved with pity” (Mt 9:36).

In this light, I would like to pause and reflect upon an issue much debated today: the question of development. Even now, the compassionate “gaze” of Christ continues to fall upon individuals and peoples. He watches them, knowing that the divine “plan” includes their call to salvation. Jesus knows the perils that put this plan at risk, and He is moved with pity for the crowds. He chooses to defend them from the wolves even at the cost of His own life. The gaze of Jesus embraces individuals and multitudes, and he brings them all before the Father, offering Himself as a sacrifice of expiation.

Enlightened by this Paschal truth, the Church knows that if we are to promote development in its fulness, our own “gaze” upon mankind has to be measured against that of Christ. In fact, it is quite impossible to separate the response to people’s material and social needs from the fulfilment of the profound desires of their hearts. This has to be emphasized all the more in today’s rapidly changing world, in which our responsibility towards the poor emerges with ever greater clarity and urgency. My venerable Predecessor, Pope Paul VI, accurately described the scandal of underdevelopment as an outrage against humanity. In this sense, in the Encyclical Populorum Progressio, he denounced “the lack of material necessities for those who are without the minimum essential for life, the moral deficiencies of those who are mutilated by selfishness” and “oppressive social structures, whether due to the abuses of ownership or to the abuses of power, to the exploitation of workers or to unjust transactions” (ibid., 21). As the antidote to such evil, Paul VI suggested not only “increased esteem for the dignity of others, the turning towards the spirit of poverty, cooperation for the common good, the will and desire for peace”, but also “the acknowledgement by man of supreme values, and of God, their source and their finality” (ibid.). In this vein, the Pope went on to propose that, finally and above all, there is “faith, a gift of God accepted by the good will of man, and unity in the charity of Christ” (ibid.). Thus, the “gaze” of Christ upon the crowd impels us to affirm the true content of this “complete humanism” that, according to Paul VI, consists in the “fully-rounded development of the whole man and of all men” (ibid., 42). For this reason, the primary contribution that the Church offers to the development of mankind and peoples does not consist merely in material means or technical solutions. Rather, it involves the proclamation of the truth of Christ, Who educates consciences and teaches the authentic dignity of the person and of work; it means the promotion of a culture that truly responds to all the questions of humanity.

In the face of the terrible challenge of poverty afflicting so much of the world’s population, indifference and self-centered isolation stand in stark contrast to the “gaze” of Christ. Fasting and almsgiving, which, together with prayer, the Church proposes in a special way during the Lenten Season, are suitable means for us to become conformed to this “gaze”. The examples of the saints and the long history of the Church’s missionary activity provide invaluable indications of the most effective ways to support development. Even in this era of global interdependence, it is clear that no economic, social, or political project can replace that gift of self to another through which charity is expressed. Those who act according to the logic of the Gospel live the faith as friendship with God Incarnate and, like Him, bear the burden of the material and spiritual needs of their neighbours. They see it as an inexhaustible mystery, worthy of infinite care and attention. They know that he who does not give God gives too little; as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta frequently observed, the worst poverty is not to know Christ. Therefore, we must help others to find God in the merciful face of Christ. Without this perspective, civilization lacks a solid foundation.

Thanks to men and women obedient to the Holy Spirit, many forms of charitable work intended to promote development have arisen in the Church: hospitals, universities, professional formation schools, and small businesses. Such initiatives demonstrate the genuine humanitarian concern of those moved by the Gospel message, far in advance of other forms of social welfare. These charitable activities point out the way to achieve a globalization that is focused upon the true good of mankind and, hence, the path towards authentic peace. Moved like Jesus with compassion for the crowds, the Church today considers it her duty to ask political leaders and those with economic and financial power to promote development based on respect for the dignity of every man and woman. An important litmus test for the success of their efforts is religious liberty, understood not simply as the freedom to proclaim and celebrate Christ, but also the opportunity to contribute to the building of a world enlivened by charity. These efforts have to include a recognition of the central role of authentic religious values in responding to man’s deepest concerns, and in supplying the ethical motivation for his personal and social responsibilities. These are the criteria by which Christians should assess the political programmes of their leaders.

We cannot ignore the fact that many mistakes have been made in the course of history by those who claimed to be disciples of Jesus. Very often, when having to address grave problems, they have thought that they should first improve this world and only afterwards turn their minds to the next. The temptation was to believe that, in the face of urgent needs, the first imperative was to change external structures. The consequence, for some, was that Christianity became a kind of moralism, ‘believing’ was replaced with ‘doing’. Rightly, therefore, my Predecessor, Pope John Paul II, of blessed memory, observed: “The temptation today is to reduce Christianity to merely human wisdom, a pseudo-science of well-being. In our heavily secularized world, a ‘gradual secularization of salvation’ has taken place, so that people strive for the good of man, but man who is truncated…We know, however, that Jesus came to bring integral salvation” (Redemptoris Missio, 11).

It is this integral salvation that Lent puts before us, pointing towards the victory of Christ over every evil that oppresses us. In turning to the Divine Master, in being converted to Him, in experiencing His mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we will discover a “gaze” that searches us profoundly and gives new life to the crowds and to each one of us. It restores trust to those who do not succumb to scepticism, opening up before them the perspective of eternal beatitude. Throughout history, even when hate seems to prevail, the luminous testimony of His love is never lacking. To Mary, “the living fount of hope” (Dante Alighieri, Paradiso, XXXIII, 12), we entrust our Lenten journey, so that she may lead us to her Son. I commend to her in particular the multitudes who suffer poverty and cry out for help, support, and understanding. With these sentiments, I cordially impart to all of you a special Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 29 September, 2005.

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

..::Praised Be Jesus Christ::..

+JMJ

I keep realing how cool the parish I go to when I am at school is. Awesome parish. Confession: at least 3+ times a week. They even do it before Stations of the Cross so you can get your plenary indulgence! They also do Benediction after Stations too! WHOA! I don't know if that is the norm, but I just LOVE it! Not only this, but they have booklets with meditations compsed by Benedict XVI in the bookracks! Also, every Tuesday morning from 10 until 12pm, they have an Opus Dei priest hear confessions. All year round. Oh yeah! This parish also has a beautiful Perpetual Adoration Chapel! I just love this parish! If you want to surf around their website, check it out here. I suggest if you are ever in town, go to Mass here. There are two other parishes, but this one I highly recommend. HIGHLY.


Did I mention they have some very awesome and holy priests as well? AWESOME! Even though the architecture is remenant of the 60's/70's, it still retains the true spirit of Vatican II. The above picture is the sanctuary from the homepage. It kind of gives some idea of what I am talking about.

Lord, Thy Will Be Done!

..::Blessed Be God::..

Pope loves his iPod

The Pope likes to unwind by listening to his iPod.

Pope Benedict XVI was given an iPod Nano as a present by staff at Vatican Radio.

Officials have loaded it with religious music, plus pieces by Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin.

He has been spotted around the Vatican using his iPod and distinctive white earphones.

According to The Sun a spokesman said: "He is very pleased with the iPod. The Holy Father likes to unwind listening to it and is of the opinion that this sort of technology is the future."

The Queen, President Bush and Tony Blair all own an iPod.

It is now official. EVERYONE but me has an iPod. But I think I am better for it. Instead of private listening pleasure, I have more silence in life and more time for talking with others. I don't need no stinkin' iPod!

Also, I heard back from Mother Abbess! They have been busy busy little bees! I guess there was little time and she did not have a chance to write back and I thought the letter had got lost in the mail or something! But I sent another letter and she wrote back a quick response and I hopefully will be visiting during spring break(March 22 to the maybe the 27th)! Yay! I am so excited! I hope that I will be able to help the Sisters to help them with their work that has kept them so busy! I am so excited! Also, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but it seems like there may be a book written about the Monastery and what makes someone want to enter, and well, I've kinda been being interviewed for it, even though it was going to start out as a newspaper article. I kinda don't know what to think about it all, but I think I am just going to try not to be so nervous about it. I always get so nervous with someone writing your every word or recording it!

Anyways, that is all for now! Also, you may want to look through the blogroll on the sidebar because I have been updating and revamping and adding some cool new blogs. Check them out! I'll let you do the mystery work to figure out which ones! God bless you abundantly this lent!

Lord, Thy Will Be Done!

..::Praised Be Jesus Christ::..

+JMJ

To An Altar Boy
By Saint John Berchmans

To be Christ's page at the altar,
To serve Him freely there.
Where even the Angels falter,
Bowed low in reverent prayer.

To touch the throne most holy,
To hand the gifts for the feast,
To see Him meekly, lowly,
Descend at the word of the priest.

To hear man's poor petition,
To sound the silver bell,
When He in sweet submission,
Comes down with us to dwell.

No grander mission surely
Could Saints or men enjoy;
No heart should love more purely,
Than yours my altar boy.

God bless you, lad, forever,
And keep you in His care,
And Guard you that you never
Belie the robes you wear.

For white bespeaks untainted
A heart both tried and true;
And red tolls love the sainted
The holy martyrs knew.

Throughout life, then, endeavor
God's graces to employ;
And be in heart forever
A holy altar boy.

Lord, Thy Will Be Done!

..::Blessed Be God::..

+JMJ

Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your Holy Angels! Well, it is that exciting time of year again! It's LENT! I feel like I should have something insightful or interesting for you to read, but perhaps I will ask you to think about something instead.

I invite you to think, and often about the Angelic presence around you always. You have a guardian angel that the Lord has blessed you with and is with you always. They are always ready to help you.

Think often about the Holy Angels. Make friends with the angels and they will be there for you always.

Be Holy!
Lord, Thy Will Be Done!

..::Praised Be Jesus Christ::..

Women of the world, please cover yourself.


These days almost no one will tell the Christian woman that it is her duty to dress modestly. But that should not surprise us. Religious instructors barely teach the basics of Christian morality, and sexual confusion is the chiefest error of the day in the field of natural reason.

I've said for about as long as I can remember (15 years or more now?) that it makes no sense for a woman to become embarrassed when she is seen in her underwear, if she goes outdoors in swimwear which is exactly as revealing, if not more so.

And again: modern swimwear's level of undress is functionally equivalent to nudity in the mind of any male except those in a persistent vegetative state. While men are called to have custody of their eyes, it is an objective sin to exhibit oneself and place all moral demands on those who share a public space with you. The masculine obligation to chastity does not translate into feminine carte blanche for immodesty.

To be even clearer: No Christian woman should wear a bikini. A generous one-piece with skirt is about rock-bottom in terms of basic modesty and self-respect. Or, as my wife will recommend: a one-piece with a large T-shirt worn over it.

Surely some indoctrinated woman will parrot the feminist come-back to my position: "What's next? The burqa?" But the real perspective is this: The burqa and the bikini are polar extremes of the same fundamental error. Both styles of clothing deny the human dignity of the wearer. Virtue is a mean between the extremes. The modest woman, the woman with self-respect, wears neither the ostentatious bikini nor the humiliating burqa. Both the bikini and the burqa deny our Christian belief in the equal spiritual dignity of man and woman. Both manners of dress encourage onlookers to view the woman as subordinate to men in one way or another.

The burqa denies the Christian belief in the equal spiritual dignity of a woman because it obscures her face, which is the gateway to the heart and to the mind. A woman in a burqa is not permitted to publicly manifest the visible features most proper to her nature as a rational and emotive being -- features which are the most proper to her as a human being. (Aristotle, for example, says that no animal has a prosopon, lit., a countenance, but only a man or a woman.)

The bikini likewise denies her equal spiritual dignity because it places primary emphasis on her body, and in such a way that it encourages others to objectify her body as a sexual plaything, not as a temple of Holy Spirit or as a magnificent creature of goodly design. Yes, I really mean a plaything. How so? Everyone who wants to, gets to enjoy it, regardless of their number, often in public, with no more personal involvement than the private satisfaction of one's own frivolous desire. That's a plaything. Indeed, some playthings are more jealously guarded.

So no, the burqa isn't next. It is already irrelevant. If a woman walks around barely clad, showing everyone the size of her breasts, half of her rear, and the muscle tone of her abs, she doesn't need to put a bag over her head in order to insure that no man will ever take her seriously. I hasten to add: changing one's attire back to "smart business casual" on Monday morning does little to remove the previous image from the mind. (Would you look at Bill Blass-suited Linda in the same way if you saw her in a full burqa last weekend? Again, the logic is the same. I am surprised how few women grasp that sexual "liberation" leads to misogyny, even though chauvinism and machismo evolved contemporaneously with it in the 1970s.)


The woman with an eye for history or with a traditionalist inclination should grasp this point even more clearly. Women dressed modestly while swimming and sunning themselves earlier in the century. This is not Victorian primness. This is common sense. You can still do it.

A casual example: Zorak and I were walking through the New Haven train station one afternoon and saw on the wall vintage photos from turn-of-the-century New Haven and in particular Long Wharf and the beaches along the Connecticut coast. (For those in New Haven: by the escalators when you come up from the underground walkways.) The decade was probably 1910s, maybe 1920s? Whenever I see such photos, I observe to Catholic women that the lady swimmers are frolicking around in swimwear that covers them from the knees to the shoulders. This was considered normal only 80 years ago. In the intervening half-century, we've gone from that modest dress to the spaghetti-string bikini, i.e., virtual nudity.

While you're reminding yourself "it was not that long ago," remember what else was socially forbidden "not that long ago": contraception until the 1960s and abortion until 1973. It was not that long ago. And they are all related.

And to Catholics, I further observe: Along with their virginity, their modesty and their unconditional commitment to their children, women were told to abandon this as well, and in this latter departure they were even encouraged by their clergy.

I point this out just to note: we have radically underestimated just one aspect of the traditional Catholic practice of wearing the chapel veil: Just as keeping a cross in your pocket reminds you not to spend money on something you ought not, wearing a small piece of cloth on your head in church serves as a permanent reminder to cover yourself in modesty as a daughter of God. Now, wedding gown pretenses aside, not a single veil of innocence remains unlifted. Just something to consider.

I conclude by noting that this same casuistry applies to casual dress. The skirt lengths on women in DC during the summer is unfathomable. The prostitutes nowadays have to distinguish themselves by actually wearing skirts which do not cover the bottom of their rear, or, if a recent drive down K street is any example, just a thong.

I leave you with two further reading resources:

CatholicModesty.com and the Angelic Doctor, "Whether the adornment of women is devoid of mortal sin?", ST, II-II, Q 169 A2.

Source

..::Blessed Be God::..

+JMJ
Think Latin is dead? Far from it. Just check this place out and be totally amazed:
Si quis dixerit
I just wish I knew Latin now.

Lord, Thy Will Be Done!

..::Praised Be Jesus Christ::..

+JMJ
I am beginning to hear quite a bit about the Lockport Dominican Nuns that is really starting to ruffle my feathers. I have visited them and they are a wonderful community and truly authentic. It is terrible to see some of the treatment they have been receiving. It really saddens me. I will not permit rumors about these Sisters to be thrown about as they have. There will be none of this here.
Lord, Thy Will Be Done!

Since it has been some time since the last update and again, MUCH has happened. This past Jan. I was in Ukraine studying Catholicism and Orthodoxy with several University of St. Thomas students. It was quite an experience and it has definatly been a step in my discernment. I've discerned that I can no longer remain at Elmhurst College and remain happy. I have yet to find though, a college with a solid theology/Catholic studies and a decent art department. Perhaps God is dropping some hints that I am not supposed to be in college and that I should enter the Poor Clare Colettines ASAP. Again, Lord, Thy Will Be Done!

Please pray for those discerning the religious life and priesthood! They need all the support they can get!