Jesus teaches us, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you….” (Mt. 5:44) If forgiveness and praying for enemies were easy, there would be little reason for Jesus to make the command. Our capacity to forgive depends upon the totality of Christian virtue, and forgiving enemies is the crown jewel of martyrdom. In those vintage black and white cowboy movies, the good guy defeats the bad guy and, with pent-up rage, has an opportunity to exact revenge. But self-control prevails, and the hero surrenders the villain to the authorities. Perhaps this pattern is a cultural reflection of Christian …
St. Thérèse’s Way of Surrendering Prayer to God
FR. JOEL GUIBERT St. Thérèse teaches us that we not only have to surrender ourselves in prayer but that we will also be led to “surrender” our prayer. Surrendering Our Prayer Of course, this is not a question of abandoning prayer, in the sense of stopping prayer, but of surrendering our prayer to God, as it is, and not as we would absolutely want it to be. The temptation to grade our prayer At the end of our prayer, we often assess ourselves, and the grade is sometimes bad: “I missed my prayer”; “My prayer was useless. My mind was completely elsewhere”; …
The Twelve Steps up the Mountain of Pride According to St. Bernard of Clairvaux
BY MSGR. CHARLES POPE So you think the idea of the 12 Steps is new. Well, if you think you’ve got a new idea, go back and see how the Greeks put it, or in this case how the Medieval Latins put it. St. Bernard of Clairvaux identified twelve steps up the mountain of pride. These are detailed in a work by him entitled Steps of Humility and Pride. In today’s post we focus on the Twelve Steps of Pride. Tomorrow, on the Twelve Steps of Humility (from St Benedict’s rule). Here I list the 12 Steps of Pride only briefly and …
The Twelve Steps of Pride
BY MSGR. CHARLES POPE If you think the idea of “Twelve Steps” is new, go back and see how the Greeks put it, or in this case how the medieval Latins put it. St. Bernard of Clairvaux identified twelve steps up the mountain of pride in his 12th century work The Steps of Humility and Pride. This article focuses on the twelve steps of pride, and in another article we’ll tackle the twelve steps of humility. The list below is from St. Bernard, but the commentary is mine. Notices how the twelve steps grow progressively more serious, leading ultimately to the slavery of sin. …
Twelve Steps to Humility
BY MSGR. CHARLES POPE In another article we considered the twelve steps of pride set forth by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. In escalating ways, the twelve steps draw us to an increasingly mountainous and enslaving pride. St. Bernard also enumerates the twelve steps to deeper humility and it is these that we consider today. As with yesterday’s post, the list by St. Bernard is shown in red, while my meager commentary is shown in plain, black text. To read St. Bernard’s reflections, consider purchasing the book, Steps of Humility and Pride. (1) Fear of God – To fear the Lord is to hold Him …
A Last Chance for Australian Justice
For Cardinal Pell’s sake, and for Australia’s, it must be hoped that, for once, and on its last chance, the Australian justice system will get it right. On March 11-12, the High Court of Australia will hear Cardinal George Pell’s appeal of his conviction on charges of “historic sexual abuse.” The High Court has seven judges and a majority vote is required to decide an appeal. In a high-profile case like this, it is expected that all seven judges will sit for the appeal, although in some instances only five sit. There is no set time-line for the High Court …
Eucharistic Miracles
AN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION DESIGNED AND CREATED BY CARLO ACUTIS THE SERVANT OF GOD The Eucharistic Miracles of the World If your parish or organization would like to exhibit the Church approved photographic International Exhibition of The Eucharistic Miracles of the World or, if you would like to know more informations, please contact: Associazione Amici di Carlo AcutisPhone: 0039.339.6340122info@carloacutis.com – www.carloacutis.cominfo@miracolieucaristici.org – www.miracolieucaristici.org or Carol J. SeydelThe Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration AssociationPhone: 815-609-7331 – miracles@therealpresence.org – http://www.therealpresence.org Please Note: To hold the exhibition, you will need special high definition PDF to make your posters (166, size 60x80cm). Relevant Articles about the Eucharistic …
The Equal Rights Amendment is a Scam
On February 13, 2020, the House of Representatives passed the dull-sounding H.J. Res 79. Despite its name, this resolution indicates a dangerous attempt to disregard constitutional order and states’ rights for the purpose of codifying a progressive dogma: the alleged “right” to abortion. For progressives, the inconvenient truth is that abortion rights in America stand on shaky ground. A single Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade, alleged that such a “right” lurked in the “penumbras of emanations” of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Roe has been widely criticized for being legally unstable. Even pro-choice legal scholars like Edward Lazarus, who clerked for Justice Harry Blackmun (author of …