Setting The Record Straight

Next in the series of inspiring reflections for Lent are these brief passages from The Philokalia. Next to the Bible itself The Philokalia is the most revered literary source for spiritual guidance for many Eastern Orthodox Catholics. Much of The Philokalia was written in the early centuries AD.

For Lent, another offering of ancient stories, mostly about love, from the Desert Fathers and Mothers. In their radical commitment to asceticism and simplicity the Fathers and Mothers were early Catholic Coptic peasants of Egypt who present a direct challenge to comfortable Christianity. They are honest and humble about their sins. One Father wonders why he has been kept away from sin by fear of barking dogs rather than of fear of God.

Another Lenten reading. This stunning treasure from an anonymous monk in the14th century has been wildly popular since it first appeared. When you read it, the terse and artless writing sounds new, as if it was written tomorrow. If you are a contemplative Catholic and have not known of it before you must encounter it now for this an essential work for contemplatives. “The Cloud of Unknowing” tells of a way to contemplate God, not only when we receive the Eucharist, or kneel in silence in the Adoration Chapel, but in each moment in our life’s stream of tiny moments.

Listen to a few little stories and thoughts the Desert Fathers and Mothers. These early Catholic ascetics entered into solitude first of all to meet our Lord and to be with Him and Him alone. They discovered that only with a single-minded attention to Christ were they able to give up the victimizing compulsions of the world and face their own true natures. Sometimes they found humility.

A treasure. Quiet reflections for Lent from The Philokalia. Next to the Bible itself The Philokalia is the most revered  literary source for spiritual guidance for the Eastern Catholics. Since much of it had its source in the early centuries when all Catholics were united under the Pope, It should be better known by all Catholics.

Walk back with us into the Age of King Arthur.  Chivalry was one of the glorious effects of Christ’s principles conveyed through his Catholic church. In our jaded age we find it hard to understand how warriors could have been so noble. The Catholic knight embodied valor and gentleness in a way that  protected and empowered women and fully enacted Saint Augustine’s concept of Just War. The Catholic Knight was devout thus unlike the portrayals of him in modern media. His virtues were incredible courage, loyalty, and generosity. Nothing else in history is comparable. His duties included daily Mass and fasting. He swore fidelity to the Church, obedience, and chastity. He was a warrior who displayed courtesy, humility, and beneficence.

Listen to the thoughts of the Desert Father and Mothers,  and you will find a prescription for a  truly Catholic life. These Desert Fathers and Mothers, who lived in the first centuries AD,  are the spiritual precursors, and, in a way, they are parents of the  contemplative aspects of the Chivalry Code of the Catholic Knights. These Monk-Knights also sought humility. They were ascetics  who fasted and avoided vain  possessions. Some took vows of silence. The magnificent Catholic knights were warriors as well as monks who  took to heart the words of James Epistle that faith without works is dead. They were true soldiers of Christ, not of any earthly kingdom or state.

We are going to pot ! Many say that it is nobody else’s business what we put into our bodies. Yet if our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit isn’t it God’s business. Then how can we be rushing to legalize marijuana while ignoring a large body of evidence describing the dangerous and pathological effects of the use of pot on the individual, our culture, and our society. Listen to this summary of the findings of peer-reviewed studies of the actual effects of marijuana.  Let us join together and swim against the tide. Medical marijuana? It a hoax. We have had Marinol for decades.

Question one: The Last Pope ? Is Pope Francis the last Pope as prophesied by a great Catholic saint? Question two: The famous Saint Michael the Archangel prayer has a mystical origin. Why don’t Catholics pray using the quite different words of original version ?

Covington Catholic student Nick Sandman is standing on the front line of a 2000 year old  Culture War. The battle line has often been fought when aggressive secular entities have attacked Catholics and Catholicism. Or when secular governments seize control of religious organizations and schools. We must take care.  Listen to this story of the Kulturkampf (Culture War) that started small then  erupted in Germany under Otto von Bismarck and eventually led to the rise of Hitler.