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"For this reason the apostle Paul said of Christ,
"In him are hidden all the treasures
of the wisdom and knowledge of God."
The soul cannot enter into these treasures, nor attain
them, unless it first crosses into and enters the thicket of
suffering, enduring interior and exterior labors, and unless it
first receives from God very many blessings in the intellect
and in the senses, and has undergone long spiritual training.

The gate that gives entry into these riches of his wisdom
is the cross; because it is a narrow gate, while many seek the
joys that can be gained through it, it is given to few to
desire to pass through it."
St. John of the Cross
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Today's Reading

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A little bummed that today's reading from Matthew was during a daily mass, instead of a Sunday mass. Daily mass is usually already full of folks who are in love with Christ and His church, and it's those weekend folk who need lil' lessons on why the church is the "Church", 'cause just talking with an average cradle Catholic will show ya that Protestants don't have the market cornered on ignorance of Church teaching.

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi
he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

There is this new movement in the church of "Catholics Come Home", but we need to further that by "Catholics don't Leave", which will happen if the Church (Laity and Religious) work harder at explaining/defending what we know to be True. I personally wish that the homily would be more of a mini-Catechism to rouse a intellectual body nourished in Spirit and Truth.

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Fr. Neuhaus Debate

Vain and Repititious Praise

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A Protestant friend once asked me
"How is Praise & Worship song like a Machine gun?"
"um, How?" I says
"Fifty Rounds without stopping" (O:

I must admit two things, with the first being I find Praise & Worship music rather boring and unfitting of music to glorify God (and I don't really dig that it's creeping into the Catholic church too). My second confession is that I now say a heck of a lot of Rosaries per day.

With the recent addition of pain associated with my illness, as well as my new extended drive time, it is safe to say I average about 3-4 rosaries per day (Saying a Rosary does not magically make the pain stop, but helps me focus on the One who endured greater pain . . .and for me). Naturally this lead me to ponder on that silly "Vain and Repetitious" bromide that reveals the bigotry and ignorance of our Protestant brethren when used, reminding me of the 20 minutes of Praise & Worship music I had to endure before service would start, back when I was an evangelical Christian.

While I do sometimes drift off while saying a rosary , especially at bedtime, I do try to meditate on each mystery as I go through my beads (which is why I prefer the audio version of the Scriptural rosary while driving).

P&W tunes are usually aimed at stirring up an emotion rather than pondering on any deep truth, and in that show that they are aimed at the people in the church, not the Creator of the Church. Worse are the comments I have overheard of folks preffering this song to that, or that leader to this, . . . .and don't get me started on Worship leaders who allow the audience to applaud and praise them (I did see a leader once who did chastise the clappers while reminding them who they were suppose to be worshiping).

This my friends, is Vanity upon vanity, and that the modern churches allow this American Idol style liturgy, is one of the many reasons I knew I was finally in Christ's church when I became Catholic.

How is saying the Holy Rosary or Devine Mercy chaplet considered vain and repetitious prayer (especially as both are prayers for others), but singing songs like "Shout to the Lord" or "Awesome God" for 20 verses not?

Ugh! this of course just another effective tactic by our friend Screwtape, to help keep God's people apart, which shows how much we should, and need to be together!


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Even now

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"Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.

For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God."
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Question of da Day

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"Is prayer your steering wheel
or your spare tire?"
Corrie ten Boom 1892-1983
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Snowmore already

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For my Lenten fast, can I give up Snow? (O:
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First Things First

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"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able
to test and approve what God's will is
his good, pleasing and perfect will".

Romans 12:2

Sadly, so many folks ignore the first part, or worse, they actually call their security seeking, career chasing, society pleasing way of life "God's will". . . and in the end will find a great deficit in their heavenly account (if they ever bothered to open one in the first place).
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"In the beginning . . .

. . . God created the heavens and the earth"
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Pedro leaves the Lion

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"There's a hemorrhaging of thoughtful people from the church."

Indie rocker David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion) talks about his loss of faith in a Christianity Today article.

His above comment is possibly correct, but misleading, as it supposes that all these people are leaving Christianity, when it seems more and more thinking folks are leaving "a" church, and finding the CHURCH. For me, it seems that one of the chief similarities between myself and my fellow Tiber River swim club members is that we "thought" our way into Christ's church . . .the other similarity is that most of us wanted to stay on the shore, but heeded His voice which beckoned us "swim".
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