miniZibaldone

Sun.Star Cebu's  Carvajal: "In Aid of" OF COURSE, extrajudicial killings by scalawags in the police force, as Sen. Leila de Lima is passionately crusading against, and extrajudicial killings by drug lords and other lords, as she surprisingly is not crusading against, not as passionately anyway, have both to be stopped. Such killings simply have no place in the nation of laws that we are. It is not a matter of course, however, that Senate investigations can stop these killings. These investigations are conducted by design and intent for nothing more than to aid legislation. Thus in the past these have often turned out to be platforms for grandstanding by legislators in aid of their re-election. From her experience as justice secretary, Senator de Lima should already know what law, if any, is needed to be passed to help stop extra-judicial killings (by all and not just by the police) without having to waste government time and money on endless but ineffective pro-forma ...

In collaboration with CEC (The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture). Participants: Mary O’Callaghan, Public Policy Fellows at the Center for Ethics and Culture, University of Notre Dame, USA; Orlando Carter Snead, Director of the Center for Ethics and Culture, University of Notre Dame, USA. On occasion of the conference, screening of a video-interview with Jean Vanier, Founder of the Community L’Arche. Introduced by Maurizio Vitali, Journalist.

Upon entering the gate of Jesus, the door of faith and of the Gospel, we can get out from worldly attitudes, bad habits, by selfishness and by our own closures. When there is contact with the love and mercy of God, there is a real change. And our life is illuminated by the light of the Holy Spirit: an inextinguishable light! From the angelus He leads us into fellowship with the Father, where we find love, understanding and protection. But why is this door narrow? One can ask. Why is it narrow?  It is a narrow door not because it is oppressive – no, but because it asks us to restrict and limit our pride and our fear, to open ourselves with humble and trusting heart to Him, recognizing ourselves as sinners, in need of His forgiveness. For this [reason], it is narrow: to contain our pride, which bloats us.  The door of God’s mercy is narrow but always wide open, wide open for everyone! God has no favorites, but always welcomes everyone, without distinction.  A door, th...

How is it possible to experience work as a free subject who doesn’t depend on circumstances, but can face them head on? What is the meaning of work?

In defense of the ‘staycation’ of Pope Francis Austen Ivereigh, August 18, 2016 John Allen recently laid out three good reasons why Pope Francis should take a break during the burning Roman weeks of ferragosto:  for the sake of the wider Church, for the sake of his subordinates, and for his own health. Although it seemed a little unlikely that it should be, of all people, Allen — the Stakhanovite of the vaticanisti — giving such advice to the pope, the reasoning was unarguable. But I want to question the assumption that Francis cannot be taking a rest because he has not taken a vacation. We tend to assume that a change is as good as a rest, that getting away to hotels in mountains or by the sea breaks with our routines and obligations and therefore revivifies us. And that can be true. But there’s another part of the story: not just the stress of travel (the delayed flights, the clogged roads, the mediocre hotel that doesn’t look anything like it did online), ...

From Communio Journal [full text]

Maria has suffered so much in her life. It makes us think of these women, who are suffering so much. We ask that the Lord to take them to Himself and liberate them from such bondage. From the angelus The Lord looks down on the humble to raise them and we heard this in Mary's song of the Magnificat. And that song reminds us, in particular, of the women overwhelmed by the weight of life and the drama of violence, the women who are slaves of the arrogance of the powerful, the little girls forced into inhuman work, the women forced to surrender themselves in body and spirit to the greed of some men. May the beginning of a life of peace, of justice, of love, come as soon as possible for them, waiting for the day when they may finally feel gripped by hands that do not humble them, but with tenderness raise and lead them along the path of life, to heaven.  The Assumption of Mary is a great mystery that concerns all of us, our future. Mary, in fact, precedes us on the path of those...

Mathletics John Barrow

In carrying out its mission in the world, the Church needs the help of the Holy Spirit to avoid being deterred by fear and calculation, to avoid becoming used to walking within secure borders. From the angelus The fire of which Jesus speaks is the fire of the Holy Spirit, the living and and active presence within us from the day of our Baptism. It is a creative force that purifies and renews, it burns all human misery, all selfishness, all sin, transforms us from within, regenerates and makes us capable of loving. Jesus desires that the Holy Spirit may blaze like fire in our hearts, because it is only from the heart that the fire of divine love will flourish and advance the Kingdom of God. If we open ourselves totally to the Holy Spirit, He will gift us the audacity and fervor to proclaim to all Jesus and his consoling message of mercy and salvation, on the open seas.  The apostolic courage that the Holy Spirit kindles in us, like a fire, helps us to overcome walls and barri...

If I Live to be 100 Neenah Ellis  Excerpt from chapter 3 "Mona Breckner: 'I Tried to Do My Part'" Now her many nieces and nephews and their many children look in on her regularly, celebrate holidays with her, call her on the phone.      "They're my family now and they're very, very precious to me," she says seriously. "One niece feels as if I were her mother. We're very close."      She is around young families enough to have a strong opinion about what's wrong with the American family today.      "I think that women are not taking responsibility for family life as my parents did. My mother had a great deal of influence on my life, and I never could thank her enough for the feeling that she raised me with —the sharing feelings that I have about everybody. I think there's something lacking today. I think it's partly because the mother's attention has been pulled aside by the suffrage deal and the...

Philippine Star  "Untangling traffic" Emergency powers are being sought for President Duterte to speedily address the crisis that is the traffic mess in Metro Manila. Almost every day there is a reminder  of that emergency: traffic jams along most thoroughfares except Sundays and holidays, commuter trains so packed because of limited capacity and the Metro Rail  Transit breaking down, sometimes several times in one day.  These days the traffic jams have been aggravated by rutted roads as asphalt pavement again disintegrates during the rainy season. Yesterday a rutted stretch a mere  two meters long on the northbound lane of Quiapo Bridge tied up traffic from the Manila City Hall as vehicles were forced to slow down.  This problem is again becoming increasingly common throughout Metro Manila. Even as Congress deliberates on emergency powers for the President to deal with the  traffic mess, perhaps the firm hand of the Duterte administration can demand...

The center of the Gospel "is not the miracle [of the resurrected son], but Jesus' tenderness toward this boy's mother. Here, mercy takes the name of great compassion toward a woman who had lost her husband and now her only son is also bound for the cemetery. This mother's great sorrow moves Jesus and causes the miracle of the resurrection" From the audience St. Luke remarks on Jesus' feelings: "The Lord saw her and had compassion for her and said to her: '“Do not weep.”Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still "(vv. 13-14). Great compassion guided the actions of Jesus: it is he who stops the procession touching the coffin and, moved by deep compassion for this mother, decides to face death, as it were, face to face. And he confronts it definitively, face to face, on the Cross. " "When Jesus saw the mother crying, she entered his heart! Everyone arrives at the Holy Door everyone bringing with them thei...

May the Virgin Mary help us to be persons and communities not focused on the present, or, worse, the nostalgic about the past, but turned towards the future of God, towards the encounter with him, our life and our hope. From the angelus Earlier, the pope had commented the Gospel reading of the day (Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C) concerning three parables on vigilance (Lk, 12:32-48). "The first,” he explained, “is the parable of the servants who wait during the night for the return of the master. ‘Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival’ (v. 37). It is the blessedness of waiting with faith for the Lord, of getting ready in an attitude of service. He becomes present every day, knocking on the door of our heart. And blessed will be those who open it because they will have a great reward: for the Lord himself will be the servant of his servants; in the great feast of his Kingdom, he will himself serve them. “With this parable, set at ni...

From Communio journal [Full text]

August 6 is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord The Holy Transfiguration by Robert Slesinski

St. Paul, who had been acquainted with the sporting world of his day, in the first Letter to the Corinthians, which we have just listened to, writes to those Christians living in the Greek world: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it!" (1 Cor 9:24). Here we see that the Apostle of the Gentiles, in order to bring the message of Christ to all peoples, drew from all the concepts, images, terminologies, modes of  expression, and philosophical and literary references not only of the Jewish tradition but also of Hellenic culture. And he did not hesitate to include sport among the human values which he used as points of support and reference for dialogue with the people of his time. Thus he recognized the fundamental validity of sport, considering it not just as a term of comparison to illustrate a higher ethical and aesthetic ideal, but also in its intrinsic reality as a factor in the formation of...

"This is why life is an inexhaustible certainty, and we live our life at peace, with the continual possibility of joy..." " Now, if it is an Other who saves me, who justifies me, what is this Other? "

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis To Lucy Barfield My Dear Lucy, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand, a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather, C. S. Lewis

Saint Dominic had a dilemma at the beginning of his life, which marked his whole existence: “How can I study with dead skin, when Christ’s flesh suffers.” ...  In the encounter with the living flesh of Christ we are evangelized and recover the passion to be preachers and witnesses of His love; and we free ourselves of the  dangerous temptation, so present today, of Gnosticism. From the message God stimulated Saint Dominic to found an “Order of Preachers,” preaching being the mission that Jesus entrusted to the Apostles. It is the Word of God, which burns  within and spurs to go out to proclaim Jesus Christ to all peoples (cf. Matthew 28:19-20). The Founding Father said: “First contemplate and then teach.” Evangelized  by God, to evangelize. Without strong personal union with Him, the preaching might be very perfect, very reasoned, even admirable, but it will not touch the heart,  which is what must change. So essential is the serious and assiduous study of...

From  AsiaNews UN condemns spate of extrajudicial killings Since the election of Rodrigo Duterte, 704 suspected drug dealers have been killed without being brought to trial. Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) denounces killings. During the election campaign Duterte vowed death to at least 100 thousand drug dealers. Manila (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The hundreds of extrajudicial killings in recent months by the Philippine police to fight the drug trade "contravene the provisions of international conventions on the fight against drugs" and "do not serve the cause of justice”, says Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), who remarked that he was "very concerned" by the increase in killings of suspected drug dealers in the Philippines. Fedotov added: "I join the United Nations Secretary-General in condemning the apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killing, which is illeg...

When we are indebted to others, we expect mercy; but when others are indebted to us, we demand justice! This is a reaction unworthy of Christ’s disciples, nor is it  the sign of a Christian style of life. Jesus teaches us to forgive and to do so limitlessly From the reflection/message Forgiveness – pardon – is surely our direct route to that place in heaven. Here at the Porziuncola everything speaks to us of pardon! What a great gift the Lord has  given us in teaching us to forgive and in this way to touch the Father’s mercy! We have just heard the parable where Jesus teaches us to forgive (cf. Mt 18:21-35).  Why should we forgive someone who has offended us? Because we were forgiven first, and of infinitely more. The parable says exactly this: just as God has forgiven  us, so we too should forgive those who do us harm. So too does the prayer that Jesus taught us, the Our Father, in which we say: “Forgive us our debts, as we also  have forgiven our debtors...

From JSTOR Daily

What kind of pastoral activity should the Catholic Church in our country undertake? How do we apply the teaching of mercy, and above all, to whom? In the first place, to whom should our teaching on mercy be addressed?  Holy Father, in Evangelii Gaudium you speak of missionary disciples who enthusiastically bring the Good News to today’s world. What do you suggest to us? Is there a  specific way you can encourage us to build up the Church community in our world fruitfully, joyfully and with a missionary spirit? How can we help them [refugees], since they are so numerous? And what can we do to counter fears of an invasion or aggression on their part, which would paralyze  society as a whole? ******** perform a work of mercy that of burying a dead brother. Visiting the sick ******** I believe that in this highly secularized world we have also the other danger, that of a gnostic spiritualization.  For me the bigger problem with secularization ...

Prayer for the Heart of a Child ( Leonce de Grandmaison ) Holy Mary, Mother of God, preserve in me the heart of a child, pure and transparent as a spring. Obtain for me a simple heart That does not brood over sorrows; A heart generous in giving itself, Quick to feel compassion; A faithful, generous heart that forgets no favor and holds no grudge. Give me a humble, gentle heart Loving without asking any return; A great indomitable heart That no ingratitude can close, No indifference can weary; A heart tortured by its desire for the glory of Jesus Christ: Pierced by His love With a wound that will heal only in heaven.

A sign of hope, and this sign is called fraternity, because, in fact, in this world at war, we need fraternity, closeness, dialogue and friendship. And this is a  sign of hope: when there is fraternity. From the audience So, in this great Jubilee meeting, the young people of the world received the message of Mercy, to take it everywhere in spiritual and corporal works of mercy. I  thank all the young people that came to Krakow! And I thank those that joined us from all parts of the earth! — as in many countries small Youth Days were held in  connection with Krakow’s. May the gift you received become a daily answer to the Lord’s call....  And today Poland reminds the whole of Europe that the Continent cannot have a future without its founding values, which in turn have the Christian vision of man at  the center. Among these values is mercy, of which two great children of the Polish land were special apostles: Saint Faustina Kowalska and Saint John Paul II.....

An animal that is attacked either in its own self, or in those things that are especially dear to it, does not calculate whether it can or cannot resist, whether resistance will be of any use or not, whether it would be better to yield, whether the danger is great or small, whether the forces balance out, whether resisting could cause it greater harm, etc., but resists immediately, and fights with all the forces it can muster, even though it be a very small force against a very great one. Disturb a hen with her chicks and she will launch herself at you with beak and claws, and will do you all the damage she can....It is shameful that calculation renders us less high-minded, less courageous than the beasts. From this, one can grasp just how much the great art of computation, so characteristic of our own times, enhances and fosters the greatness of deeds, acts, life, events, minds, and men. —Giacomo Leopardi

“A man had two sons…” begins the parable of the Prodigal Son. As Peguy wrote, this parable speaks so powerfully to believers and unbelievers alike because it touches the human heart at the very point where the mystery behind our existence is encountered, “a unique point, a secret point, a mysterious point, ‘a’ point of correspondence” that recognizes in the parable the fulfillment of its most daring desires, a “point of sorrow, a point of desolation, a point of hope, a point of pain, a point of restlessness, a scarred point.” The message of this parable grasps us in the heart like the teeth marks of an old faithful dog that will never go away no matter how badly we treat it. No other word of God reaches farther than this parable, so that it accompanies us the farthest we can stray from goodness, staying with us no matter how far we wander, no matter how shamelessly we behave. This parable does not know what shame is. It will never leave us in peace, and for this we are secretly grat...