The Weekly Francis – Volume 251 – 29 November 2018
The Weekly Francis

The Weekly Francis – Volume 251 – 29 November 2018

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 18 November 2018 to 29 November 2018.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Angelus

General Audiences

Letters

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “May the Virgin Mary help us joyfully follow Jesus on the way of service, the royal road that leads to Heaven.” @Pontifex 21 November 2018
  • “In the eyes of God human life is precious, sacred and inviolable. No one can despise the lives of others or one’s own life.” @Pontifex 22 November 2018
  • “Men and women bear God’s image within and are the object of His infinite love, in whatever condition they were called into existence.” @Pontifex 23 November 2018
  • “None of us can survive without mercy. We all have need for forgiveness.” @Pontifex 24 November 2018
  • “While the great ones of the Earth build themselves ‘thrones’ for their own power, God chooses an uncomfortable throne, the cross, from which to reign by giving his life.” @Pontifex 25 November 2018
  • “Let us ask the Lord for the grace of being generous, so that our hearts may be opened and we may become kinder. #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 26 November 2018
  • “This week the Church invites us to ask ourselves: what state do I want the Lord to find me in when He calls? #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 27 November 2018
  • “We cannot truly follow Jesus when we are weighed down by things, because if the heart is crowded with other goods, there will be no room for the Lord, who will become just one thing among others.” @Pontifex 28 November 2018
  • “Faced with the tragedies of life, we are called to look to the horizon, because we have been redeemed and the Lord will come to save us. #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 29 November 2018

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 250 – 21 November 2018
The Weekly Francis

The Weekly Francis – Volume 250 – 21 November 2018

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 1 May 2018 to 21 November 2018.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Angelus

General Audiences

Homilies

Letters

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “Do not follow Jesus only when you feel like it, rather, seek Him every day. Find in Him the God who loves you always, the meaning of your life and the strength to give of yourself.” @Pontifex 16 November 2018
  • “Nobody can delude themselves by thinking, “I’m fine because I’m not doing anything wrong”. To be a follower of Jesus it is not enough not to do wrong, because there is good that we must do!” @Pontifex 17 November 2018
  • “Let us ask for the grace to open our eyes and hearts to the poor in order to hear their cry and recognize their needs. #WorldDayofthePoor
    http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/poveri/documents/papa-francesco_20180613_messaggio-ii-giornatamondiale-poveri–2018.html …” @Pontifex 18 November 2018
  • “You cannot love only as long as it is “advantageous”. Love manifests itself when it goes beyond one’s own self-interest, and when it is given without reservation.” @Pontifex 19 November 2018
  • “Faithfulness is the characteristic of free, mature and responsible human relationships.” @Pontifex 20 November 2018
  • “Since today is World Fisheries Day, let us pray for all seafarers and advocate for a global commitment to stop human trafficking and forced labor in the fishing industry. #WorldFisheriesDay” @Pontifex 21 November 2018
  • “May the Virgin Mary help us joyfully follow Jesus on the way of service, the royal road that leads to Heaven.” @Pontifex 21 November 2018

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Collegiality BS
Punditry

Collegiality BS

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

From Amy Welborn on Devoted Bishops.

One of my regular blog reads is Ann Althouse, retired Wisconsin law professor. I don’t see eye-to-eye with her on all issues, particularly social issues, but at least once a day, she posts something interesting in a clarifying way. One of the tags she frequently uses on blog posts is [“civility bullshit.”  As in: (https://althouse.blogspot.com/2018/06/calling-bullshit-on-calls-for-civility.html)

 …because the real motivation is political advantage. Usually, the civility-demander is trying to get opponents tone it down and not take advantage of whatever hot passion and energy they’ve got on their side.

And this is absolutely, one-hundred percent correct. It applies in all types of discussions, including churchy ones.

Related is what I guess I’ll call _Collegiality BS._

(In deference to those who might be offended…)

You might recognize it as the call for a _Kumbaya_ moment. You might recognize it in calls for us to prioritize our sense of community – closeness, good feelings, acceptance at some level – above anything else. It’s a certain _interpretation_ of the Christian notion of communion. The problem is that it’s superficial and theologically incorrect. For the Catholic/Christian understanding of authentic communion is rooted in Christ’s actions, not ours. All the baptized are already in communion with Christ and each other. We don’t do it. He does. Our call is to _recognize_ that communion and build on it.

She then clarifies by providing an example of this.

After that, she talks about Cardinal Mahony’s short talk at the USCCB meeting.

But communion-awareness can shift into Communion and Collegiality BS when those preaching it are really just trying to deflect, distract and move on from uncomfortable matters. _Always_ be skeptical when someone frantically tries to “build community” with you.

Take, for example, Cardinal Mahony.

It’s appalling enough that he spoke at this week’s weird and pointless (although not _useless_ – see the difference? As in God can bring good out of anything?) bishops’ gathering.

And they all just sat there and listened. At least they didn’t applaud.

Anyway, Cardinal Mahony’s five minute talk said not a word about abuse or corruption. He was all about … our devotion to each other as members of the conference and the college of bishops.

Words to wisely follow, “Always be skeptical when someone frantically tries to ‘build community’ with you.” This is certainly one of my pet peeves when I detect what I call faux community building. This usually goes not deeper than glad-handing. Maybe as an introvert my quick-triggered detection of this is a bit skewed, yet I pretty much always detect it happens. I really desire true community and find it off-putting to find the counterfeit.

As they say, “Read the whole thing”. Especially as she goes on to pick apart what the Cardinal said along with pointing out and quoting what Bishop Steven Biegler of Cheyenne had to say. Quite a contrast.

I am not surprised that Cardinal Mahony, who covered up so much abuse and caused so much damage to his former Archdiocese, had the nerve to speak there at all. He was not the only one with more ego than self-awareness who appeared at the meeting.

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 249 – 15 November 2018
The Weekly Francis

The Weekly Francis – Volume 249 – 15 November 2018

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 15 October 2018 to 12 November 2018.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Angelus

General Audiences

Homilies

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “Where there is sin there is also the merciful Lord God who forgives if you go to Him. #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 9 November 2018
  • “The scientific community today is called to establish a leadership that offers solutions for the sustainable and integral development of all peoples, which is indispensable for building peace. #WorldScienceDay” @Pontifex 10 November 2018
  • “ Sunday is a holy day for us, sanctified by the celebration of the Eucharist, which is the living presence of the Lord among us and for us. #sundaymass” @Pontifex 11 November 2018
  • “Let us pray today for bishops so that they may always be what Saint Paul calls them to be: humble, gentle, servants. #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 12 November 2018
  • “The first step to knowing Jesus Christ is to recognize our own poverty and our need to be saved.” @Pontifex 13 November 2018
  • “Jesus is not pleased with a “percentage of love”: we cannot love him at twenty, fifty or sixty percent. It’s all or nothing.” @Pontifex 14 November 2018
  • ““The Kingdom of God is in your midst.” It is not spectacular. It grows in silence, in hiding, through witness, prayer, and the attraction of the Spirit. #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 15 November 2018

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 248 – 08 November 2018
The Weekly Francis

The Weekly Francis – Volume 248 – 08 November 2018

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 27 October 2018 to 8 November 2018.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Angelus

General Audiences

Homilies

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “Jesus made it so death does not have the last word: those who believe in Him will be transfigured by the Father’s merciful love for an eternal and blessed life.” @Pontifex 2 November 2018
  • “God is faithful and our hope in Him is like a fixed anchor in heaven.” @Pontifex 3 November 2018
  • “Sunday Mass is at the heart of the Church’s life. There we encounter the Risen Lord, we listen to His Word, we are nourished at His table, and thus we become Church. #sundaymass” @Pontifex 4 November 2018
  • “Jesus loved us freely. Christian life is imitating Jesus’ free love. #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 5 November 2018
  • “Let us commit ourselves with prayer and action to distance our hearts, our words and our deeds from all violence in order to take care of our common home.” @Pontifex 6 November 2018
  • “Jesus invites us to celebrate with Him, to be close to Him, to change our lives. #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 6 November 2018
  • “Video” @Pontifex 6 November 2018
  • “Praying means knocking at the door of a friend. God is our friend.” @Pontifex 7 November 2018
  • “May the Lord help us understand the logic of the Gospel, that of mercy with bearing witness. #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 8 November 2018

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Divine Intimacy
Book Review

Divine Intimacy

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Previously I had a couple volumes of Divine Intimacy by Father Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. So I was looking on Amazon to complete the two of four volumes I lacked.

Here is a summary of this work.

This Book of Meditations is a classic and is seeped in Carmelite spirituality. For every day it offers two meditations, in liturgical arrangement, that enable the soul to enter the conscious presence of God and to reflect on the theme of the day. These are followed by a ‘Colloquy’ that helps the person at prayer to start a friendly conversation with God where acts of praise and love, petition and thanksgiving are made, together with good resolutions for the future. Here we are at the very heart of prayer, which is a heart-to-heart encounter in faith with the living God.

Reading through the comments on Amazon I noticed some criticism of this version as being an edited one and “watered down.” There were multiple comments to this effect. Most suggested getting the original one volume set.

I saw that it was available via Baronius Press. I have other books from them and they are very high-quality leather-bound books. Since I wanted Divine Intimacy to be a daily companion for years to come, I ordered it from them.

The quality of the binding is just what I expected from Baronius Press. Just beautiful to look at and read through. The daily meditations follow the previous liturgical calendar as revised in 1962. The text is from the 1964 edition of this book.

The meditations are just excellent in going through and feeding you time in preparation for contemplative prayer. I need all the help I can get and I find this super helpful as it draws so heavily from Carmelite spirituality.

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Bigger on the Inside
Other

Bigger on the Inside

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Bigger on the Inside

So I ran across this Chesterton quote while reading Fr. James Schall’s “The Satisfied Crocodile”

“People Talk much of the quarrel between science and relation; but the deepest difference is that the individual is so much bigger than the average, that the inside of life is much larger than the outside.”

The Schall essay is referencing the idea that there are no ordinary people as C.S. Lewis contended and of course G.K. Chesterton.

As a Doctor Who fan, this obviously set me thinking with the whole “bigger on the inside”. So I looked up the source of the quote, which is the “Illustrated London News ”The Idea of Separation of Sense of Separateness Oct 24, 1908″

Along the way I found another reference to the idea in Chesterton’s “The Catholic Church and Conversion.”

“At the last moment of all, the convert often feels as if he were looking through a leper’s window. He is looking through a little crack or crooked hole that seems to grow smaller as he stares at it; but it is an opening that looks towards the Altar. Only, when he has entered the Church, he finds that the Church is
much larger inside than it is outside.”

And following another rabbit hole I came across this:

Anthony Coburn wrote the first ever Doctor Who story, “An Unearthly Child.” His subsequent relationship with the show was a tad tempestuous but his influence was significant. It was Coburn who insisted on the TARDIS being a police box (and possibly even invented the acronym), and it was Coburn who made Susan the Doctor’s granddaughter. Coburn was also a committed Roman Catholic. He was even a street preacher. His faith shaped the naming of certain characters (Ian Chesterton after the famous Catholic author, G.K. Chesterton), as well as the character of the Doctor himself. In DWM #467, his son Stef writes: “The character of the Doctor was based on [Anthony’s] cultural hero, (Christian missionary) St. Paul. Like the Doctor, St. Paul was supposedly a learned man. … Paul is a Roman citizen, in the same way the Doctor is a citizen of some other society.”

Although for Chesterton I suspect the TARDIS would have to be bigger on the inside for him by necessity.

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 247 – 01 November 2018
The Weekly Francis

The Weekly Francis – Volume 247 – 01 November 2018

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 27 September 2018 to 1 November 2018.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Angelus

General Audiences

Homilies

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “Health is not a consumer good, but a universal right: let us unite our efforts so that health services are available to all. #HealthForAll” @Pontifex 25 October 2018
  • “It would be wonderful if, every day, at some moment, we could say: ”Lord, let me know you and let me know myself“. #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 25 October 2018
  • “Saint Paul gives us very practical advice about preserving unity: ”Bear with one another in love“. #SantaMarta” @Pontifex 26 October 2018
  • “You will build the future, with your hands, with your heart, with your love, with your passions, with your dreams. Together with others.” @Pontifex 27 October 2018
  • “I would like to say to the young people: forgive us if often we have not listened to you, if, instead of opening our hearts, we have filled your ears. #Synod2018 http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20181028_omelia-chiusura-sinodo.html …” @Pontifex 28 October 2018
  • “Faith is life: it is living in the love of God who has changed our lives. Faith has to do with encounter, not theory. #Synod2018 http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20181028_omelia-chiusura-sinodo.html …” @Pontifex 28 October 2018
  • “To all of you who have taken part in this “journey together”, I say “thank you”. May the Lord bless our steps, so that we can listen to young people, be their neighbours, and bear witness before them to Jesus, the joy of our lives. #Synod2018 http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20181028_omelia-chiusura-sinodo.html …” @Pontifex 28 October 2018
  • “We are called to listen to what the Spirit tells us. The Holy Spirit is always something new.” @Pontifex 29 October 2018
  • “If you want to listen to the Lord’s voice, set out on the journey, live out your search. The Lord speaks to those who search.” @Pontifex 30 October 2018
  • “We need smiling Christians, not because they take things lightly, but because they are filled with the joy of God, because they believe in love and live to serve.” @Pontifex 31 October 2018
  • “Today we celebrate the feast of holiness. Let us strengthen the bonds of love and communion with all the Saints who are already in God’s presence.” @Pontifex 1 November 2018

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Worse than Junk mail
Punditry

Worse than Junk mail

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

It is bad enough getting junk mail.

America Magazine junk mail with Fr. James Martin, S.J.
America Magazine junk mail with Fr. James Martin, S.J.

Now I am getting junk theology mail. The included “prayer book” (single piece of paper) is a prayer from Fr. James Martin’s “Building a Bridge” book. So even worse than junk theology mail, Jesuitical junk theology mail.

Probably no way to get off this mailing list, so guess I will just have to move.

Still, I guess it could be worse. America Magazine could be sending out low-quality Catholic gifts as some Catholic charity organizations do to guilt you into donating. Although maybe they learned a lesson from the time they ran an ad for a statue of Mary covered in a condom back in 2005.

+ Image – no attribution required.

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