I haven’t been able to get anything up lately and have been more focused on Twitter than blogging. I encourage all Catholic to use this the new media to send out prayers and pray requests to others in their lives.
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Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading, spiritual reading, or “holy reading,” and represents a traditional Christian practice of prayer and scriptural reading intended to engender communion with the Triune God and to increase in the knowledge of God’s Word. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally, pray and even sing and rejoice from God’s Word, within the soul. History The systematization of spiritual reading into four steps dates back to the 12th century. Around 1150, Guigo II, a Carthusian monk, wrote a book titled “The Monk’s Ladder” (Scala Claustralium) wherein he set out the theory of the four rungs: reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation. In September 2005, Pope Benedict XVI stated:
Method Time Place Preparation Once the stage is set it is time to begin the prayer. There are four phases of the prayer, which do not necessarily progress in an ordered fashion. One may move between different phases of the prayer very freely as the Holy Spirit guides. The Four Moments Lectio Meditatio Oratio Contemplatio
Operatio As a contemplative practice, Lectio Divina is practiced to enable the practitioner to creatively engage with scripture on various levels depending on one’s educational background and spiritual strengths. The expected outcome will be a deeper knowledge of scripture, oneself, others and God, and to see all these in gradually increasing light of faith. {taken directly from Wikipedia ~ please comment if something is incorrect}
So I considered this diet until I realized how I usually have about 40 grams of sugar in my normal breakfast. 30 from Pop Tarts and about 10 to 20 depending on how much coffee I drink that day. Even a little Special K breakfast bar has 27 grams of sugar in them. I’m thinking there is no freaking way I can cut back to 15 grams of sugar and thus the “Belly Fat Cure” hits the trash. Then this morning I was thinking what a glutton I am. Just because cutting back to 15 grams of sugar a day is a bit drastic doesn’t mean that I couldn’t cut out some sugar. What if I cut back to 50 grams a day that would still be better than whatever amount I’m sucking back each day now. How gluttonous of me to think just because I’m not willing to do the diet as stated somehow means I shouldn’t try any change in my diet. This all or none type of thinking affects me quite often especially when looking to make positive changes in my life. Just because I know I can’t get 60 or 30 minutes of prayer in each day now doesn’t mean I shouldn’t or can’t do 5 minutes, and may next week work my way up to 10 or 15 minutes a day. I am so attached to the status quo that the only incremental changes in my life tend to be regresses instead of progress. So even though I just had my normal 40 grams of sugar for breakfast doesn’t mean I can’t make a change for the better during the rest of the day. And tomorrow its going to be toast and butter with my coffee or maybe even eggs. Lord help me offer up my vices of my poor diet it to you, let me my feed my body in the same way I should feed my soul. How divisive a decision Roe v Wade has been since 1973. Just because something is legal does not make it right. How could this decision have come down 7 to 2?
Dear Priests, The Year of Priesthood, announced by our beloved Pope Benedict XVI to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the death of the saintly Curé of Ars, St. John Mary Vianney, is drawing near. It will be inaugurated by the Holy Father on the 19th June, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. The announcement of the Year of Priesthood has been very warmly received, especially amongst priests themselves. Everyone wants to commit themselves with determination, sincerity and fervour so that it may be a year amply celebrated in the whole world – in the Dioceses, parishes and in every local community – with the warm participation of our Catholic people who undoubtedly love their priests and want to see them happy, holy and joyous in their daily apostolic labours. It must be a year that is both positive and forward looking in which the Church says to her priests above all, but also to all the Faithful and to wider society by means of the mass media, that she is proud of her priests, loves them, honours them, admires them and that she recognises with gratitude their pastoral work and the witness of the their life. Truthfully priests are important not only for what they do but also for who they are. Sadly, it is true that at the present time some priest have been shown to have been involved in gravely problematic and unfortunate situations. It is necessary to investigate these matters, pursue judicial processes and impose penalties accordingly. However, it is also important to keep in mind that these pertain to a very small portion of the clergy. The overwhelming majority of priests are people of great personal integrity, dedicated to the sacred ministry; men of prayer and of pastoral charity, who invest their entire existence in the fulfilment of their vocation and mission, often through great personal sacrifice, but always with an authentic love towards Jesus Christ, the Church and the people, in solidarity with the poor and the suffering. It is for this reason that the Church is proud of her priests wherever they may be found. May this year be an occasion for a period of intense appreciation of the priestly identity, of the theology of the Catholic priesthood, and of the extraordinary meaning of the vocation and mission of priests within the Church and in society. This will require opportunities for study, days of recollection, spiritual exercises reflecting on the Priesthood, conferences and theological seminars in our ecclesiastical faculties, scientific research and respective publications. The Holy Father, in announcing the Year in his allocution on the 16th March last to the Congregation for the Clergy during its Plenary Assembly, said that with this special year it is intended “to encourage priests in this striving for spiritual perfection on which, above all, the effectiveness of their ministry depends”. For this reason it must be, in a very special way, a year of prayer by priests, with priests and for priests, a year for the renewal of the spirituality of the presbyterate and of each priest. The Eucharist is, in this perspective, at the heart of priestly spirituality. Thus Eucharistic adoration for the sanctification of priests and the spiritual motherhood of religious women, consecrated and lay women towards priests, as previously proposed some time ago by the Congregation for the Clergy, could be further developed and would certainly bear the fruit of sanctification. May it also be a year in which the concrete circumstances and the material sustenance of the clergy will be considered, since they live, at times, in situations of great poverty and hardship in many parts of the world. May it be a year as well of religious and of public celebration which will bring the people – the local Catholic community – to pray, to reflect, to celebrate, and justly to give honour to their priests. In the ecclesial community a celebration is a very cordial event which expresses and nourishes Christian joy, a joy which springs from the certainty that God loves us and celebrates with us. May it therefore be an opportunity to develop the communion and friendship between priests and the communities entrusted to their care. Many other aspects and initiatives could be mentioned that could enrich the Year of Priesthood, but here the faithful ingenuity of the local churches is called for. Thus, it would be good for every Dioceses and each parish and local community to establish, at the earliest opportunity, an effective programme for this special year. Clearly it would be important to begin the Year with some notable event. The local Churches are invited on the 19th June next, the same day on which the Holy Father will inaugurate the Year of Priesthood in Rome, to participate in the opening of the Year, ideally by some particular liturgical act and festivity. Let those who are able most surely come to Rome for the inauguration, to manifest their own participation in this happy initiative of the Pope. God will undoubtedly bless with great love this undertaking; and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Clergy, will pray for each of you, dear priests. Cláudio Cardinal Hummes This is why you don’t go shooting people you disagree with, let the Holy Spirit work in their lives for the greater good.
Below are the Tweets from the Bishops Conference in San Antonio today along with my comments. I give the Bishops two thumbs up for tweeting but I’m not sure about their agenda.
GetToMass.com now Tweets at Twitter. I encourage all Catholics to recapture the culture and use new technology to evangelize the world. |
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100 Years Ago Today
With all the arguments over creationism and evolution in our schools today, even in our Catholic schools, isn’t it interesting that 100 years ago today a lot of the argument was put to rest and dogmatically determined. Have we forgotten the 1900 years of church history prior to Vatican II? I think the points below give all Christians a starting point on how to read The Book of Genesis without view it to be entirely mythical or entirely literal.
On June 30, 1909, the Catholic Pontifical Biblical Commission agreed. It issued a decree interpreting the first chapters of Genesis as history, not myth. With the backing of Pope Pius X, the Commission declared that certain truths must be held no matter what the latest scientific theories claim to the contrary. These unarguable points are:
Thank God for the Catholic Church and the Successors of Peter.