Legion of Mary Blog

-Mortification and Self denial are importaint, but often ignored

-We must fall in love with God and strive for Him.  We must die to self in love of God

-The world is a sinking ship, we must let go

 

Shortly after meeting the woman who is now my wife, I talked with the man who ended up the best man and a priest to get advice.  As the advice was good and my wife and I are now married, here is a write-up of my notes from that meeting.

-the purpose of dating is to find a life-time companion

-Can’t rely on senses; should rely on soul

-All human longing is longing for God

- Simply resist sensation and senses to reach the other person.  Beauty accessable to the senses is dangerious.

[Drawing was then made of a man, with three parts.  The head, called Logei; the heart, called Love; and the mid-section, called Passion.]

We must love from the heart; not just think someone is a good match from the mind; and not just feel a physical desire for the person.

-A person consumed by passion is not capable of love

-What does she think of life, culture, and love?

-Christian affection: you won’t  don’t fall into passion, when you know her on the level of the heart.

[Drawing of a girl's mind and a guy's mind. The guy's mind is clear, organized, ordered; the girl's is a mess]

Three things for marriage: Financial stability, psycological maturity, and spiritual

-Safe S– is neither safte nor is it s–; it is really mutual ma———-

-He who loves, wants to know.  Loning in the heart is for a person.  Theology, culture, music, and art are expressions of loving for God.

- Every object in nature is a personal gift from God.  God made nature personally for me.  Creation isn’t an object, but a gift.  The beauty of what God has given wants to come to God — just as man suffers wanting to know woman.

Woman is a gift from God to man.

-God is present in woman and woman is a reflection of self and a revelation of self.  In seeing woman, man sees himself.

Celibacy is the key to keeping a marriage.  There are 3 vocations: Layiety, Consecrated life, clergy.

-Secual aspect of a person involves the whole person.

-It may appear that good is losing, but the truth is that good is winning.

1

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

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1 I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you.

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2 ³ But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and a husband the head of his wife, and God the head of Christ.

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4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered brings shame upon his head.

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But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings shame upon her head, for it is one and the same thing as if she had had her head shaved.

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For if a woman does not have her head veiled, she may as well have her hair cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should wear a veil.

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5 A man, on the other hand, should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.

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For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;

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nor was man created for woman, but woman for man;

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for this reason a woman should have a sign of authority 6 on her head, because of the angels.

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7 Woman is not independent of man or man of woman in the Lord.

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For just as woman came from man, so man is born of woman; but all things are from God.

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8 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled?

14

Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears his hair long it is a disgrace to him,

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whereas if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because long hair has been given (her) for a covering?

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But if anyone is inclined to be argumentative, we do not have such a custom, nor do the churches of God.

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9 In giving this instruction, I do not praise the fact that your meetings are doing more harm than good.

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First of all, I hear that when you meet as a church there are divisions among you, and to a degree I believe it;

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there have to be factions among you in order that (also) those who are approved among you may become known. 10

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When you meet in one place, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper,

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for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk.

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Do you not have houses in which you can eat and drink? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and make those who have nothing feel ashamed? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this matter I do not praise you.

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11 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread,

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and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

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In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

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For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

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Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. 12

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A person should examine himself, 13 and so eat the bread and drink the cup.

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For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment 14 on himself.

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That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying.

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If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment;

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but since we are judged by (the) Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

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Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

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If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that your meetings may not result in judgment. The other matters I shall set in order when I come.

On the Eucharist: http://www.adoremus.org/docKeatingLtr88.html

Bishop John Keating

A PASTORAL LETTER ON REVERENCE FOR THE EUCHARIST

The late Bishop John R. Keating, of the diocese of Arlington, issued this pastoral letter on the Liturgy in observance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. It was written at a time when revisions of biblical and liturgical texts were being prepared, and shortly before the US bishops began the extensive process of official consideration of newly revised biblical and liturgical texts began.The bishop’s letter, rich in citations of Vatican documents on the liturgy, treats themes that would become the focus of considerable discussion and, at times, controversy, such as posture of people, the sacred and sacrificial dimensions of the Mass, and the need for a serious review of the post-conciliar changes in the liturgy. His letter is divided into two parts: “the two elements of Eucharistic worship … the external ritual and the internal reality, and … the reverence due to each.”

In the light of the imminent release of the third typical edition of the Missale Romanum (Roman Missal) — and continuing exploration of the Council’s Constitution on the Liturgy, the bishop’s reflections merit renewed attention.

Bishop Keating was a canon lawyer and a member of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts. He became bishop of Arlington in 1983, and died in Rome on March 22, 1998.

Allocutio

Fr. Peffley gave the Allocutio. He talked about the importance of signing up and keeping auxiliaries. Auxiliaries are vital for a strong healthy army. If an army is cut off from its supplies, how long would the front lines last? We need the auxiliaries to supply the prayers. He gave the example of a bird without wings. A praesidium without auxiliaries hobbles along. Those with wings fly above the mountains. There is a necessity of visiting the auxiliaries after the three-month probationary period. Then they should be visited personally every year.

 
When visits are made, we should tell them how important they and their daily prayers are to the Legion. Offer them a new Tessera and thank them for their prayers. Ask if they are faithful in saying the prayers. Take copies of the Legion magazine and encourage them to subscribe so they can see they are praying for the Legion all over the world. Give them holy cards and pamphlets of the potential Legion saints and explain who they are. Ask if they are familiar with the De Montfort Consecration and whether they have read, True Devotion.Ask if they wear the brown scapular and the Miraculous Medal and enroll them. Give them a copy of the “Wings” newsletter. This can be emailed to them directly or you can print it out and make copies and mail it out to them.

 
Suggest they join the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary at The Rosary Center, P.O. Box 3617, Portland, Oregon 97208. Give them a copy of the book, Secret of the Rosary. Recommend the writings of Frank Duff and give them old Handbooks. Send an invitation to the auxiliaries for a Patricians Meeting. Mention adjutorian membership and invite them to become active members. Invite them to the Acies by letter and then give them a phone call.

 
There is a gold mine of opportunity by keeping in touch with the auxiliaries. Sometimes people sign them up, and then the auxiliaries never hear from them again. We must manage the auxiliaries we have. We should have a Mass said in October and hold a day of recollection, or invite them to attend the November Mass for deceased Legionaries.  It could be followed by coffee and donuts with a Legion priest giving a talk about the Legion. We are the army of the Legion and the auxiliaries are the support. The more they pray the more we will see the fruits in active work.

PETER: SCHOOL OF FAITH IS NOT A TRIUMPHAL MARCH
 
VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2006 (VIS) - In his general audience today, Benedict XVI continued his catechesis dedicated to the personality of the Apostles, focussing again on the figure of Peter. The audience was held in St. Peter’s Square and attended by 35,000 people.
 
  The Pope began by recalling the miracles of the loaves and the fishes, which Christ later interpreted “not in the sense of regality over Israeli, in the way the crowd had hoped, but in the sense of the giving of self. … Jesus announced the cross, and with the cross the Eucharistic bread: His absolutely new way of being king.”
 
  “We can understand that these words of the Master, as all His behavior, were difficult for people to accept, even for the disciples,” said the Holy Father. Peter’s faith, he added, “was still a nascent faith, a developing faith. It would acquire true fullness only through his experience of the events of Easter. Yet it was already faith, open to a greater reality, above all because it was not faith in something, but faith in Someone: in Him, in Christ.”
 
  The Holy Father went on: “Nonetheless, Peter’s impetuous generosity did not safeguard him from the risks of human weakness. … The moment came in which even he gave in to fear and crumbled. He betrayed the Master. The school of faith is not a triumphal march but a road beset with suffering and with love, with trials and with faithfulness, to be renewed day after day.
 
  “Peter, who had promised absolute faithfulness, knew the bitterness and humiliation of denial; the proud man learns the cost of humility at his own expense. … When the mask finally fell and he understood the truth in his weak believing-sinner’s heart, he burst into liberating tears of penance, after which he was ready for his mission.”
 
  One day, on the shores of Lake Tiberias, “that mission was entrusted to him by the Risen Jesus,” as St. John recounts. The dialogue between Peter and Jesus, the Pope observed, “contains a very significant play of verbs. In Greek, the verb ‘fileo’ expresses the love of friendship, tender but not total, while the verb ‘agapao’ means unreserved, complete and unconditional love. The first time, Jesus asks Peter: ‘Simon, do you love Me? (agapas-me?).’
 
  “Prior to his experience of betrayal, the Apostle would certainly have replied: ‘I love You (agapo-se).’ Now that he has known the bitter sadness of infidelity, the drama of his own weakness, he simply says: ‘Lord, I love you (filo-se),’ in other words, ‘I love you with my poor love.’ … Simon had understood that his poor love, the only one of which he was capable, was enough for Jesus. … We could almost say that Jesus had adapted Himself to Peter, rather than Peter to Jesus.”
 
  Pope Benedict continued: “It was precisely this divine adaptation that gave hope to the disciple. … From that day, Peter followed the Master with a specific awareness of his own frailty. But this knowledge did not discourage him; he knew he could count on the presence of the Risen One at his side.”
 
  He concluded: “From the ingenuous enthusiasm of the outset, passing through the painful experience of denial and the tears of conversion, Peter came to trust himself to the Jesus Who had adapted Himself to his own poor capacity to love. It was a long journey that made him a reliable witness, because constantly open to the action of the Spirit in Jesus. Peter would describe himself as ‘a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed’.”
AG/PETER/…                                                                                  VIS 060524 (620)

http://www.catholicculture.net/highlights/highlights.cfm?id=109

Letter from Cardinal Arinze to Bishop Skylstad about Liturgical Translations 2

May 2006

The Most Reverend William Skylstad Bishop of Spokane President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Prot. n. 499/06/L

Your Excellency,

With reference to the conversation between yourself, the Vice President and General Secretary of the Conference of Bishops of which you are President, together with me and other Superiors and Officials when you kindly visited our Congregation on 27 April 2006, I wish to recall the following: The Instruction Liturgiam Authenticam is the latest document of the Holy See which guides translations from the original-language liturgical texts into the various modern languages in the Latin Church. Both this Congregation and the Bishops’ Conferences are bound to follow its directives. This Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is therefore not competent to grant the recognitio for translations that do not conform to the directives of Liturgiam authenticam. If, however, there are difficulties regarding the translation of a particular part of a text, then this Congregation is always open to dialogue in view of some mutually agreeable solution, still keeping in mind, however, that Liturgiam authenticam remains the guiding norm. The attention of your Bishops’ Conference was also recalled to the fact that Liturgiam Authenticam was issued at the directive of the Holy Father at the time, Pope John Paul II, to guide new translations as well as the revision of all translations done in the last forty years, to bring them into greater fidelity to the original-language official liturgical texts. For this reason it is not acceptable to maintain that people have become accustomed to a certain translation for the past thirty or forty years, and therefore that it is pastorally advisable to make no changes. Where there are good and strong reasons for a change, as has been determined by this Dicastery in regard to the entire translation of the Missale Romanum as well as other important texts, then the revised text should make the needed changes. The attitudes of Bishops and Priests will certainly influence the acceptance of the texts by the lay faithful as well. Requesting Your Excellency to share these reflections with the Bishops of your Conference I assure you of the continued collaboration of this Congregation and express my religious esteem, Devotedly yours in Christ, +Francis Card. Arinze Prefect, Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments