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A most appropriate prayer in these highly charged political moments: it is specifically directed toward our political leaders, the current ones and the ones who are getting ready to replace them.
Prayer for Those Who Govern Us: Lord God, knowing that it is Your will that human society may have some people placed in authority to guarantee and promote the common good, I pray for the people placed in our government at all levels, from the local government to the national. May they have a clear vision of their duties and of the common good, together with the firm will to promote this good. Give us competent public officials who can effectively carry out programs that benefit the people. I pray for honesty in our public officials. May they all resist the temptation to enrich themselves in dishonest ways. May their hands be clean in the administration of public funds. Lord our God, give to our rulers the joy of knowing that they have the support and collaboration of the people. May they and all the citizens grow in love, peace, development in its many dimensions and harmony in society. Amen.
From: "Heartfelt Prayers for Everyday Life" from Francis Cardinal Arinze.

The Redemption of the Child. Outside the light of Christianity, the weak are destined to be neglected, if not despised and trampled upon. This explains the lot not only of woman but also of the child. In the pagan family, just as the husband had absolute power over his wife, so had the father absolute power over his children, he could punish them at will, abuse them, sell them as slaves or even put them to death. The famous apologist Tertullian, in the 2nd century, wrote against the persecutors of Christians as follows: "amongst so many men who thirst for the blood of Christians, how many are there that have not put to death one or more of their children, that have not caused them to die of cold or of hunger or exposed them as prey to dogs?" Jesus has also lifted up this frailest of beings, the child, and he has done so in may ways: first of all, by becoming a child himself, obedient to Joseph and Mary: "He was subject to them" (Lk 2:51). In the Christian family, the children are not considered heavy burdens, but sweet pledges of love (Pope Pius XII in Sertum Laetitiae). Jesus showed his predilection for children, he caressed them, he blessed them, praised them, nay, more he identified himself with them by saying: "And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receives me." (Matt 18:5) He also said: "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for such is the Kingdom of God. Amen I say to you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter it. (Mk 10:13-15). If the dignity of the child is so lofty, his education is the noblest of all arts and a must worthy action. The Divine Redeemer brought so many blessings to family life, and indirectly, to social life as well, since the family is truly the cell of society. Excerpts from Msgr Luigi Civardi: How Christ changed the world (chapter 1).

I have re-done and re-arranged the site map! see here
I have also made a clearer and simplified list of all articles and all prayers on this site. See my page listing all prayers in details, some in French and some in English: here

• Action de grace
• Mary Mother of God
• Padre Pio's spiritual recommendation
• La priere d'intercession de Bonhoeffer
• Eucharistic Desire
• Gratitude and grace and Romano Guardini
• Le Bénédicité, avant les repas
• Saint Paul and our own world
• The prayer of Saint Ephraim
• and many more prayers....

Cardinal Justin Rigali wrote in "Show us your mercy and love":
When the Holy Father (John Paul II) came to the US on one of his pastoral visits, he stated that he had come in order to tell again "the story of God's love". Our whole life is explained by God's love. Everything we do has value only to the extent that it helps us and others to share in God's love. The story of God's love goes back to the communion of the Most Blessed Trinity, which exists from all eternity. In God, love and life are identical. Only by God's revelation can we know about God's life and God's love.
The love of the Father for the Son and the love of the Son for the Father are so real and so personal that it is another person: the third person of the Most Blessed Trinity, whom we call the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings to completion the life of God. He is the term of the divine operation in the Trinity. The Holy Spirit personalizes and personifies the love of the Father and the Son. He is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. He is the Spirit of their love.
Jesus taught us all about God's love and then sent the Spirit of love into the church to make it possible for us to hand down this teaching, to explain it and to understand its importance - even if we can never grasp it completely.

There is a very tragic situation unfolding in Georgia - and they need the help of the West! The Pope addressed a crowd of approximately 8,000 people in Bressanone, and evoked "the shared Christian heritage" of the combatants, and union with "the Orthodox brethren" in prayer for peace. "There is cause for great concern", he said, "in the increasingly dramatic news of the tragic events taking place in Georgia. These, beginning from the region of south Ossetia, have already caused many innocent victims, and forced a great number of civilians to leave their homes. It is my earnest hope", he added, "that the military action may cease immediately, and that, partly in the name of a shared Christian heritage, further violent conflict and retaliation may be avoided, which could degenerate into a much more widespread conflict. May the path of negotiation and respectful, constructive dialogue be taken instead, avoiding further devastating suffering for those beloved peoples. I also call upon the international community and the most influential countries in the current situation", he continued, "to make every effort to support and promote initiatives aimed at reaching a peaceful and lasting solution, for the sake of open and respectful coexistence. Together with our Orthodox brethren let us pray intensely for these intentions, which we entrust confidently to the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus and of all Christians". See article on Asia News here .

"American Catholic structural polarization" By George Wesolek When the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops set up a separate Pro - life ministry with its own staff and network right across the hall from its office for Social Development and World Peace ( Justice and Peace ) , it set in motion a chain of developments that has compartmentalized Catholic social teaching and helped to create two Catholic constituencies. Instead of establishing one office of Catholic social teaching which would expound one message - clearly and consistently about the human person from the unborn through the life cycle right until death - the decision makers set up parallel structures, each with its own message. These structures resulted in dysfunction and confusion that continues to this day. Each message has created a constituency around it. These two constituencies often have little in common; have opposite world - views regarding culture and politics and, frankly, dislike each other. George Wesolek makes many pointed observations on the history and development of each group and he ends his commentary by recognizing that, in recent years, many people have been able to get involved in both sides of the issues, as was evident by the same people participating in the "West Coast Walk for Life" and the ".7 Conference on Global Poverty". Read more here .

Father Patrick Byrne, the General Secretary of the Holy Childhood Association, announces the Sixth Annual "Worldwide Children's Eucharistic Holy Hour". This is also the 100th anniversary of Blessed Francisco, one of the three little shepherds from Fatima.


Join me and Blessed Francisco and the schoolchildren who will be gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC on the First Friday, October 3rd, for a lovely procession, with a beautiful statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and we will pray before the Blessed Sacrament and join in the World Mission Rosary. EWTN will broadcast this event to over 40 different nations, spiritually uniting the prayers of our world's children, to pray for peace in our families and in our world. The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI counts on the prayers of the children, please join in!

For more information, go to here at wwww.childrenoftheeucharist.org

California Commission Finds State Death Penalty to be "Broken" and "Dysfunctional". In 2004, the California State Senate created the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice. The Commission, chaired by former Attorney General John Van de Kamp, includes judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, elected officials, law enforcement officials, and representatives of victims' organizations. The Commission issued its report on California's death penalty on June 30, 2008, after conducting public hearings around the state. Costs: “The additional cost of confining an inmate to death row, as compared to the maximum security prisons where those sentenced to life without possibility of parole ordinarily serve their sentences, is $90,000 per year per inmate. With California’s current death row population of 670, that accounts for $63.3 million annually.” My reasons for being anti-death penalty are faith-based reasons but I thought this economic angle ($63.3 million a year!) might helped someone else come around to the "life without parole" option. Read more about the report at the "Death Penalty Information Center" here .

Paul's pastoral advice to Titus : Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for any honest work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all men. Titus 3:1
I love this verse of Titus 3:1... What an amazing agenda: obedience to authorities, honesty, no quarrelling but courtesy. Dear Saint Paul, pray for us!

Ignatius Catholic Study Bible commentaries: Titus must remind his flock that public life is to be as shaped by the gospel as is private life. A Christian's allegiance to civil government is part of this, as is working for justice and the betterment of society.

Rev. William Most (The Thought of St. Paul): It is striking that Paul calls for obedience to the government at the very time when Nero was near the peak of his insanity. But they are to obey only in what is not wrong, being ready for every good work.

Fr. Raymond Brown (An introduction to the New Testament): In the Pastorals, there is emphasis on sound doctrine (Titus 1:9, 2:1; I Tim 1:10; II Tim 4:3) and knowledge of truth (Titus 1:1; I Tim 2:4; II Tim 2:25; 3:7) as well as being sound in faith (Titus 1:13; 2:2). Clearly a certain content and phraseology had become part of the Christian belief. … thus doctrine becomes part of faith. The pastorals reflect what will become increasingly characteristic of Christianity in the 2nd through the 4th centuries: an ever-sharpening insistence on orthodoxy (correct faith content) combined with orthopraxy (correct behavior).

Avoid stupid controversies! But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile. The Letter of Paul to Titus, 3:9.

I sometimes wonder if the daily political brouhaha would fall under the above categories...

For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never lag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Saint Paul, Roman 12.

Fog over the hills or fog over the Bay. It's summer time.

The WYD in Australia! Sydney just went through a very blessed moment and the fruits are already spreading. Here is one extract here but go to Zenit.org and read all the texts in full, you will find in them a real treasure of encouragement and inspiration:

POPE URGES TROUBLED YOUTH TO CHOOSE LIFE Says They Can Be Ambassadors of Hope:
False 'gods' [...] are nearly always associated with the worship of three things: material possessions, possessive love, or power."
"Material possessions, in themselves, are good," continued the Holy Father. "We would not survive for long without money, clothing and shelter. [...] Yet if we are greedy, if we refuse to share what we have with the hungry and the poor, then we make our possessions into a false god. "How many voices in our materialist society tell us that happiness is to be found by acquiring as many possessions and luxuries as we can! But this is to make possessions into a false god. Instead of bringing life, they bring death."
"Authentic love is obviously something good," he said. "When we love, we become most fully ourselves, most fully human. But [...] people often think they are being loving when actually they are being possessive or manipulative."People sometimes treat others as objects to satisfy their own needs. [...] How easy it is to be deceived by the many voices in our society that advocate a permissive approach to sexuality, without regard for modesty, self-respect or the moral values that bring quality to human relationships!"
"The power God has given us to shape the world around us is obviously something good. Used properly and responsibly, it enables us to transform people's lives. [...] Yet how tempting it can be to grasp at power for its own sake, to seek to dominate others or to exploit the natural environment for selfish purposes! "The cult of material possessions, the cult of possessive love and the cult of power often lead people to attempt to 'play God': To try to seize total control, with no regard for the wisdom or the commandments that God has made known to us. This is the path that leads towards death." By contrast, worship of the one true God means recognizing in him the source of all goodness, [...] that is the way to choose life."

The Faith of Mother Teresa First let me say that any reviewer out there who reads this book and claims that she doubted God her whole life or had a "crisis of faith" or any such thing obviously missed the entire point of her writings. The feeling wasn't there after a certain point in her life, and this caused her much suffering because she longed to feel God's love so much, but the amazing part is that her faith remained and grew despite the lack of feeling, and in fact because of it and even through it. She did not spend her life doubting God, she says herself she never doubted God... Read more of Stephanie's review of "Come be my light" here on "La Vie Catholique"

See this funny and quirky video on "Alert to all Christians: Saving Hollywood!" or "Hollywood as a Missionfield" the lost tribe of the 30 miles zone with a global impact... here . I found it on Church of the Masses, Barbara Nicolosi's blog, which is here . Barbara Nicolosi has written numerous movie reviews and articles about Christianity and culture, the craft of writing, and Hollywood as a mission field.

Ingrid Betancourt in an interview with the French Catholic paper La Croix here
on how she was able to overcome hate for the brutal and cruel guards holding her hostage.

I have written an Open Letter to Ingrid Betancourt, whom I admire so much and whose release brought me - and the whole world - so much joy and so much hope, such a wonderful sense that peace is possible! Read it here and see my meditation/slideshow on Mary Most Holy.

Ingrid Bétancourt is free! This is absolutely the best news possible and I can't tell you enough how happy I am. A great rescue operation, 15 people freed in all, Ingrid being the most famous one but 3 Americans were freed too, the whole rescue was "flawless" Ingrid said. Rejoice and thank God! See more details on the site lefigaro.fr here or the French Catholic site ici la-croix.com

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us!
The Lord Jesus built his holy people on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. In faith, let us pray:
- Lord, come to the aid of your people.
You once called Simon, the fisherman, to catch men
- Now summon new workers who will bring the message of salvation to all peoples.
You calmed the waves so that your followers would not be drowned
- Guard your Church, protect it from all dangers.
You gathered your scattered flock around Peter after the resurrection
- Good Shepherd, bring together all your people as one flock.
You sent Paul as apostle to preach the Good News to the Gentiles
- Let the word of salvation be proclaimed to all mankind.
You gave the keys of your kingdom into the hands of your holy Church
- Open the gates of that kingdom to all who trusted in your mercy while on earth. (from the Intercessions of the Liturgy of the Hours on June 29). The Icon of Saint Paul, in San Francisco's St Mary's Cathedral.

One of my pictures is in the "Travel" section of the Los Angeles Times site
In the "Your Scene" picture corner.
It's a shot of San Francisco, taken from Sausalito.
Go check it out and if you like it, vote for my picture as "Best"... here

Fr. Groeshel on YouTube! I love Fr. Groeshel, he has always inspired me. "I want to know you, I want to touch you, I want to know you more" the song says. We are all searching for God, no matter how fumbling and how often we dropped the ball, we are all on our way to God. Fr. Groeshel's words are very encouraging and here is an old video clip on wanting God and setting an exemple, on the importance of seeking him now here

A beautiful Pro-Life page! It's in French but the pictures speak in all languages and will remind us that our most beautiful and crucial duty is to welcome life: here on the site "Petites Soeurs des Maternités Catholiques". I was checking their site because of the recent incident in Bourgoin-Jallieu, Isère, where a Muslim father vehemently and furiously requested the removal of a crucifix in his daughter's hospital room... How terribly misguided and sad. Except for the fact that by generating so much media coverage, now we can all pray for him and pray for his daughter!

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us! Was he the last Prophet or the first Saint? Was he a forerunner or a follower, or both? How can you be both? I must admit that I had never really thought before of the paradox involved in applying these various titles to John the Baptist. Even if I had heard them mentioned next to his name, I had never probed the depth of their meanings and I certainly never grasped the theological implications of these titles but, within the first few pages of Prof. Burke's book, I was intrigued, I was fascinated and I was hooked! The question of knowing who John really was, of understanding his unique (and un-repeatable) position in the economy of salvation is very methodically - and lovingly - answered by Prof. Burke. Read more here

The grace of God spreading through the internet and thanks to its nature: interactivity, openness and informality. "People usually laugh when they hear me say that I think the Internet age will lead to mass conversions to orthodox Christianity. I believe a strong case can be made that the particular type of communication that the Internet facilitates will lead lost souls to discover truth more readily than any medium that has come before it." Read Google and Ye Shall Find: The Internet and the New Evangelization by Jennifer Fulwiler here

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
sprung in completeness where his feet pass.
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day!
Hymn: "Morning has broken" Eleanor Farjeon

The Credo of Paul VI. Who Wrote It, and Why. by Sandro Magister. First it reads like a detective story: who did what and when and why. Then The Credo: beautiful and eloquent, faithful and articulated just for us, disconnected moderns that we are. Here is an excerpt:
We confess that the Kingdom of God begun here below in the Church of Christ is not of this world whose form is passing, and that its proper growth cannot be confounded with the progress of civilization, of science or of human technology, but that it consists in an ever more profound knowledge of the unfathomable riches of Christ, an ever stronger hope in eternal blessings, an ever more ardent response to the love of God, and an ever more generous bestowal of grace and holiness among men. But it is this same love which induces the Church to concern herself constantly about the true temporal welfare of men. Without ceasing to recall to her children that they have not here a lasting dwelling, she also urges them to contribute, each according to his vocation and his means, to the welfare of their earthly city, to promote justice, peace and brotherhood among men, to give their aid freely to their brothers, especially to the poorest and most unfortunate. The deep solicitude of the Church, the Spouse of Christ, for the needs of men, for their joys and hopes, their griefs and efforts, is therefore nothing other than her great desire to be present to them, in order to illuminate them with the light of Christ and to gather them all in Him, their only Savior. This solicitude can never mean that the Church conform herself to the things of this world, or that she lessen the ardor of her expectation of her Lord and of the eternal Kingdom.
Read it all here on the site Chiesa on line

Saint Ephrem the Syrian A Deacon in the 2nd century, an Ermit and an Apologist, a Defender of the Faith against the heretics, a Composer of great religious Hymns, a Doctor of the Church, who wrote in Syriac, Greek, Latin and Armenian. One of my favorite Saint! See the Prayer of Saint Ephrem here and what he has taught me about the Transfiguration.

The presidential campaign: a window of opportunity to influence the candidates - and their parties - and to promote Catholic social justice ethics in the process. That's how I look at it. For me, this is a great opportunity to pray for them, for each one of them, and to ask for blessings on their heads and a greater conversion of heart. It will benefit us all! It is also the best time to articulate Catholic ethics of life and family and peace and social justice. There has been a very interesting debate on Catholic.org where Deacon Keith Fournier wrote: "Why This Catholic Dreads the Campaign" here . In his article, he tackles the topics of abortion, capital punishment, gay marriage, the war in Iraq, the health care system and the economy. A must read.

When the allegorical sense surpasses the litteral one. I read a wonderful article by Robert Louis Wilken on the history of the allegorical sense in Biblical studies and it got me to think why it meant so much to me, so suddenly, so late in life... Wilken says that "Christian allegory is centered on Christ, it means interpreting the Old Testament as a book about Christ. Saint Ambrose wrote: "The Lord Jesus came and what was old was new". Everything in Scriptures is to be related to him". Read more here .

The domestic church in the global village. I just had a short article published in Catholic San Francisco (May 23, 2008) on the subject of the precarious position of the family, the domestic church, within the challenges (and threats) of the global village. Actually, just like with all other aspects of the faith journey, the challenges can come from outside the circle of the family, from unbelievers and unsupportive sources, as well as from members of our own family who can resist the faith through a sort of apathy. But grace will prevail! And our job is to allow the grace to flow through our own love and humility and forgiveness. See here.

The Vezelay Pilgrimage, with hundreds and hundreds of young people, in early May. Routes de Vézelay 2008 : "Laissez-vous mener par l'Esprit" Earlier this month, more than 800 young people converged on the Basilic of Vézelay. See the beautiful pictures here. It's quite a testimony to the state of the faith in France.

The Church. Quotes from Cardinal Thuan's book The Road to Hope.
"A person who really loves the Church does not seek to destroy it."
"Do not be surprised when people seek to destroy the Church. They seek to kill Christ again, but since they cannot do so, they seek to destroy the Church which is the Body of Christ."
Read more here on a wonderful and most interesting blog: A Catholic Mom in Hawai.

An urban field of flowers

Our Lady of Sheshan: Prayer for the People of China Today Lisa Hendey posted this prayer from Pope Benedict, dedicated to Our Lady of Sheshan: Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother, venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title “Help of Christians”, the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection. Read more here and see also Have "Tea with Mary", on a beautiful, faithful and loving blog.

Michael O'Brien: novelist of the Last Days and the Anti-Christ My novel Father Elijah does not attempt to predict the future. It is a very different kind of novel than certain fundamentalist Protestant scenarios or even secular scenarios of an apocalyptic nature. It is not "baptized fortune-telling" which is a contradiction in terms. My book attempts to raise, in a fictional form, the questions that must be asked in every generation. Am I awake? Am I living in a spirit of vigilance? Am I reading the signs of the times with a calm, peaceful and trusting heart and with a mind in tune with the mind of the Church, or am I asleep? Am I vulnerable to the falsehood of Antichrist? Have I made compromises with that spirit? And if so, where? Am I praying to the Holy Spirit for light? Light to understand the times we live in and light to understand my role? Read more here on Ignatius Insight

Beyond Left and Right: Awaiting the Pope’s Next Encyclical. The tired categories of Left and Right, which we associate with Liberal (or Progressive) and Conservative, originated in the French Revolution, and have long outlived their usefulness. They are way too clunky to capture the complex political opinions that most of us make up as we go along, these days. Read more here on GodSpy.com

What do we do when those whom we love no longer share our faith, our deep values, and our morals? Suppose, to use a very common example, as a parent you have lost your own children in terms of practicing your faith. Your own children no longer go to church, no longer pray, no longer observe the church's rules (especially as these pertain to sex and marriage) and view your own faith practice as either a naiveté or a hypocrisy. You have argued with them, fought with them, and tried in very way to convince them, but to no avail. Eventually you arrive at the unhappy truce you live today: you practice and they don't. One of the deepest bonds of all between you has been broken. Moreover, you worry about them, living, at least so it seems, godless lives. What can you do? Obviously you can continue to pray and live out your own life according to your own convictions, hoping to challenge them with your life more than with your words. But you can do more. You can continue to love and forgive them and, insofar as they receive that love and forgiveness from you, they are receiving love and forgiveness from God. You are part of the Body of Christ and they are touching you. Within the incredibly mystery of the incarnation, you are doing what Jesus asks of us when he says: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven."
If you are a member of the Body of Christ, when you forgive someone, he or she is forgiven, if you hold someone in love, he or she is held to the Body of Christ. To make this more concrete: If a child or a brother or a sister or a loved one of yours strays from the church in terms of faith practice and morality, as long as you continue to love that person, and hold him or her in union and forgiveness, he or she is touching the hem of the garment, is held to the Body of Christ, and is forgiven by God, irrespective of his or her official external relationship to the church and Christian morality. Your touch is Christ's touch. When you love someone, unless that someone actively rejects your love and forgiveness, she or he is sustained in salvation.
In the incarnation, God takes on human flesh in Jesus, in the Eucharist, and in all who are sincere in faith. The incredible graciousness, power and mercy that came into our world in Jesus is still, at least potentially so, in our world in us, the Body of Christ. What Jesus did we too can do; in fact, that is precisely what we are asked to do.
The Holy Longing, by Ronald Rolheiser.
What a beautiful gift God gaves us: the ability to let Him bless the ones we love through us.
Read the full text here

If I understand windsurfing correctly,
it is a question of skills and strength,
the discernment necessary to navigate the treacherous waters,
and the will to do it,
and through it all
the love for doing it, again and again.
Yep. Just like the life of faith.

Why Catholics and Protestants Don't See Eye to Eye. Very interesting article on the different worldviews of Catholics and Protestants, based on their differences in faith, in living and understanding their faith. That's the first layer of the story. The main points of the article are interesting (analogical vs. linear) and the conclusion are very positive and encouraging (we should build bridges between us so we can better work together). But there is more than it first seemed. I realized the article was written by an ex Protestant who is now Catholic (Praise the Lord!) and right there you can see another layer appearing, you can see that he would have a personal reason for articulating the different faith traditions in such a reconciling manner. But there is more! There is an unusual twist to this situation because he is one of the exception to the rule, he is married (Anglican Priest can be married) and, after he had converted to the Catholic Church, he got a dispensation from the Church to become a Catholic Priest although he had a wife and family. I would say that this brings us to the deeper and more complex layers 3, 4 and 5 all at once! I am referring to the gift of celibacy, the primacy of our own judgment vs. holy obedience and the mystery of the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, who chose to come to us as a male human, as a defenseless baby, as a loving son and a chaste man. But the Church in her wisdom knows when and how to welcome her exceptional children.
Here is his article: "Why Catholics and Protestants Don't See Eye to Eye" by Rev. Dwight Longenecker. "The two may share the same moral values, but they will do so for different reasons. They may share the same essential beliefs, but they will see them from different perspectives". Read more here. Maybe I'll write him a letter, I have some questions that I would love to ask him, like: when did you first realize that you wanted to enter into the Catholic Church? What was the biggest stumbling block for you before this? What helped you understand that the fullness of the revelation is only in the Catholic Church and how can we offer this to our Protestant brothers and sisters? He really stands in a unique position to be a real bridge, a true peacemaker. I am going to pray for him.

God does not call the "equipped", God equips the "called"...

What constitutes a church? Is it like-minded individuals, gathering on the basis of mutual compatibility? This is a very common misunderstanding, but gathering as church has little or nothing to do with liking each other or finding others with whom we are mutually compatible. The group of disciples that first gathered around Jesus were not individuals who were mutually compatible at all. They came from very different backgrounds and temperaments, had different visions of what Jesus was all about, were jealous of each other, and were, as scripture tells us, occasionally furious with each other. They loved each other, in the biblical meaning of that phrase, but they did not necessarily like each other. Too often, we are disappointed in church because we find there such a diverse and motley collection of persons, some of whom do not like us and whom we would never pick to be our friends. We got to church looking for friendship or ideological soul-mates and, often, do not find them. This does not necessarily mean that there is something wrong with the church, merely that we have false expectations. To be in apostolic community, church, is not necessarily to be with others with whom we are emotionally, ideologically, and other-wise compatible. Rather, it is to stand, shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand, with them, hear a common word, say a common creed, share a common bread, and offer a mutual forgiveness so as, in that way, to bridge our differences and become one common heart. Church is not about a few like-minded persons getting together for mutual support, it is about millions and millions of different kinds of persons transcending their differences so as to become a community. (Ronald Rolheiser, the Holy Longing).

A small and simple
purple flower,
blossoming in the fields,
by the Pacific Ocean,
in late April 2008
but, nevertheless,
an intricate
and amazing masterpiece,
here today and gone tomorrow.

FAITH AND POLITICAL POWER. The third temptation. Its true content becomes apparent when we realize that throughout history it is constantly taking on new forms. The Christian empire attempted at an early stage to use the faith in order to cement political unity. The Kingdom of Christ was now expected to take the form of a political kingdom and its splendor. The powerlessness of faith, the earthly powerlessness of Jesus Christ, was to be given the helping hand of political and military might. This temptation to use power to secure the faith has arisen again and again in varied forms throughout the centuries, and again and again faith has risked being suffocated in the embrace of power. The struggle for the freedom of the Church, the struggle to avoid identifying Jesus' Kingdom with any political structure is one that has to be fought century after century. For the fusion of faith and political power always comes at a price: faith becomes the servant of power and must bend to its criteria.
"Jesus of Nazareth" , by Pope Benedict XVI, chapter 2 p 40

‘The Father of the World’—The Pope at the U.N. "To the delegates and staff whom he addressed, his words were a reminder of, or for some, an education in why they were working at the UN in the first place. This is why the UN exists; this is what all the juridical and bureaucratic structures are meant to serve: the integral human person with an intrinsic dignity rooted in the transcendent, and the common good.” Read the whole article on "the father the world" here on Godspy.com

In an effort to establish a bridge, Pope Benedict uses the angle of wisdom and reason (here again, one more time) when articulating his worldview to the people who might (or might not) be un-believers, knowing that believers will be inspired too (as, hopefully, they should). He is very good at doing this type of gentle, intelligent and reasonable invitation, and he is going to do it again and again, as long as it takes, because that is what it is, an invitation and one should never tired of extending a hand to the other in front of us.
Here are my favorite passages from Pope Benedict XVI address to the UN:
The founding principles of the Organization - the desire for peace, the quest for justice, respect for the dignity of the person, humanitarian cooperation and assistance - express the just aspirations of the human spirit, and constitute the ideals which should underpin international relations. As my predecessors Paul VI and John Paul II have observed from this very podium, all this is something that the Catholic Church and the Holy See follow attentively and with interest, seeing in your activity an example of how issues and conflicts concerning the world community can be subject to common regulation. This is all the more necessary at a time when we experience the obvious paradox of a multilateral consensus that continues to be in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few … The action of the international community and its institutions, provided that it respects the principles undergirding the international order, should never be interpreted as an unwarranted imposition or a limitation of sovereignty. On the contrary, it is indifference or failure to intervene that do the real damage.… The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and for increasing security. Indeed, the victims of hardship and despair, whose human dignity is violated with impunity, become easy prey to the call to violence.
Read the whole text here on Catholic News.

Left picture: Pope Benedict XVI reading the letter he wrote to the American people prior to his arrival.
Right picture: A week later, toward the end of his visit, he is kneeling down and praying at Ground Zero.
And in between these 2 pictures, a short week of blessed moments, some visible and
many more invisible for now, where the seeds of the truth and goodness of Christ have been planted,
all over the Northern East coast of the US first, then all over the world by repercussion,
seeds of healing and inspiration, re-direction and motivation.

The special Web site (uspapalvisit.org) created by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for Pope Benedict XVI’s April 15-20 visit to the United States will live stream the events. See a video of Pope Benedict XVI addressing the people of the US in English (for the most part). It is very moving to hear his voice, his accent. There is a certain physical frailty which comes through in the video which I had not realized just by looking at pictures. He is 81 years old! But his ability at multi language shows clearly and most of all, his gentleness, his steadfastness and his clarity of intention: he is here to deliver a message, to gather us around him, to witness and to lead; he is a great teacher, he is our spiritual leader, he is the Pope! And God has blessed us with terrific leaders in our recent history of the Church. This is definitively a blessed moment in time. First for DC and NY, but then for all of us watching and listening, paying attention and praying too. How I wish I could be there... But I'll pray that his vist be most fruitful for all of us, believers and seekers, traditional or progressive, may this be a window of opportunity to come one step closer and put into practice the commandment of loving God and loving our neighbor. See the video here.

Since I can't be there on the East Coast, I will follow him by prayers:
Each day: Pray the Act of Hope for the intentions of the Holy Father (for April, Pope Benedict's intentions are that Christians may not tire of proclaiming with their lives that Christ's resurrection is the source of hope and peace and that the future priests of the young Churches may be formed to evangelize their nations and the whole world)
Act of Hope: O Lord God, I hope by your grace for the pardon of all my sins and after life here to gain eternal happiness because you have promised it who are infinitely powerful, faithful, kind, and merciful. In this hope I intend to live and die. Amen.
Make a holy hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament each day of the Holy Father's visit.
On April 16, pray for the bishops of the United States and all leaders of the Church.
On April 17, pray for all those charged with educating children and forming faith,
    especially parents, teachers, and catechists.
On April 18, pray for world leaders and all who work for justice and peace.
On April 19, pray for young people and for an increase in vocations.
On April 20, pray for the Church in the United States.
(the following recommendation for prayers were found on the uspapalvisit site here. It is absolutely wonderful to be able to be united in prayers! And I put the French version of the Act of Hope in the French column, on the other side.

Thomas Merton. All nature is meant to make us think of paradise. Woods, fields, valleys, hills, the river and the sea, the clouds travelling across the sky, light and darkness, sun and stars, remind us that the world was first created as a paradise for the first Adam, and that in spite of his sin and ours, it will once again become a paradise when we are all risen from death in the second Adam.
(Thomas Merton, The Modern Spirituality Series Arranged for Daily Readings.)

Free Tibet!

On the day of the passage of the Olympic Torch in my City, I went to PacBell Park and I took a few pictures but I never got to see the Torch itself since it was doing its little disappearing act - but I took a stand for freedom and justice.

See my thoughts and my hopes and my pictures here .

When created minds do see God's substance, the very substance of God himself forms their understanding, but then something more than their nature is needed to predispose them to such sublimity: what we call a light of glory. The brightness of God will illuminate her, namely the community of those who see God. The function of this created light is not to make God's substance understandable (that it is of itself) but to strengthen our understanding in the way skills and other dispositions strengthen our ability to do things. It is not a medium through which God is seen but something enabling us to see him immediately…. The light makes the creature like God. The more such light there is in the mind, the more perfectly the mind sees God. And those who have the greater love have the more light. Greater love causes greater desire and desire is in itself a predisposition making man fit to receive what he desires. So those who love more will see God more perfectly and be more blessed. (P 28 Summa Theologiae, Saint Thomas Aquinas. A concise translation, edited by Timothy McDermott).

"Everyday"
A Poem by Kathy O'Connor.

Everyday is a day of possibilities
To explore and to use the opportunies
Of this day, this today of our lives
To be a light shining upon another's pathway.

Read more here .

Probably the word most often used in the contemporary scene is the word freedom. If the sick talk most about health, because health is endangered, may it be that the modern talk about freedom means that we are in danger of losing it? It is indeed possible while we fight to keep our enemies from binding chains to our feet, we become our own enemy by binding chains to our souls. What I am trying to say is there are two kinds of freedom; a freedom from something and a freedom for something. An external freedom from restraints and an internal freedom of perfection, a freedom to choose evil and a freedom to possess the good. This inner freedom the typical modern man does not want because it implies responsibility and therefore is a burden. Freedom is ours to give away. Each of us reveals what we believe to be the purpose of life by the way we use that freedom.
"Father into you hands I commend my spirit." Surrender! Consecration. Life is a cycle.
We come from God and we go back again to God. Hence the purpose of living is to do God's will. At the marriage feast of Cana, Mary said: "Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye." Both the last recorded word of Jesus and the last recorded word of Mary were words of surrender: Jesus surrendered himself to the Father; Mary asked us to surrender ourselves to the Son. This is the law of the universe: "For all are yours; and you are Christ's. And Christ is God's" (1 Cor 3:22-23).
Fulton J. Sheen (Lessons from Cana and Calvary)

"Brain Dead" Man Saved from Organ Harvesting. 48 days after Zack's accident, the young man returned home, walking on his own two feet. Read this amazing and miraculous story here found on the Catholic Exchange site.

‘Deliver us, Lord, from the fear of the enemy.' Dorothy Day often quoted the Psalms. In January of 1967 she said in The Catholic Worker, “‘Deliver us, Lord from the fear of the enemy.' That is one of the lines in the Psalms, and we are not asking God to deliver us from enemies, but from the fear of them. Love casts out fear, but we have to get over the fear in order to get close enough to love them.” (Found in the Houston Catholic Worker here

A Muslim journalist was baptized by Benedict XVI at Saturday's Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Read this amazing and very courageous conversion story and remember to pray for Magdi Cristiano Allam: here on Catholic On line.

Easter is here! He is risen! "The Christian message is basically nothing else than the transmission of the testimony that love has managed to break through death here and thus has transformed fundamentally the situation of all of us". See my own Easter Bouquet and reflections on this most wonderful time of the year, the Triduum: Holy Thursday evening service, the Passion and Death of the Lord on Good Friday, the waiting of Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil and the glory of Easter morning here

Discourse 16. Mental Sufferings of Our Lord in His Passion by John Henry Newman . As the solemn days proceed, we shall be especially called on, my brethren, to consider His sufferings in the body, His seizure, His forced journeyings to and fro, His blows and wounds, His scourging, the crown of thorns, the nails, the Cross. They are all summed up in the Crucifix itself, as it meets our eyes; they are represented all at once on His sacred flesh, as it hangs up before us—and meditation is made easy by the spectacle. It is otherwise with the sufferings of His soul; they cannot be painted for us, nor can they even be duly investigated: they are beyond both sense and thought; and yet they anticipated His bodily sufferings. The agony, a pain of the soul, not of the body, was the first act of His tremendous sacrifice; "My soul is sorrowful even unto death," He said; nay; if He suffered in the body, it really was in the soul, for the body did but convey the infliction on to that which was the true recipient and seat of the suffering. Read more here on the Newman reader site .

Saint Joseph. Lord, our God, you chose Joseph the righteous to care for your Son in childhood and youth, teach us to care for Christ's body by caring for our brothers and sisters, You entrusted the earth to mankind, to people it and make it prosper, inspire us to work wholeheartedly in this world, seeking always to give you glory. (from the morning prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours)
The role of Joseph as the "Guardian of the Redeemer" in salvation history. From a beautiful (and short) encyclical Redemptoris Custos (Guardian of the Redeemer) with a special prayer to Saint Joseph. Check it out here !

Pope Benedict XVI is coming to the US!. "With great joy we anticipate the first apostolic visit of his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, to the United States of America, April 15-20, 2008. We pledge our prayers in preparation for this historic journey, that hearts may be opened to God's love and fidelity by our Holy Father's pilgrimage." See the new blog launched just for the Pope's visit by the USCCB here

If you have already checked this blog de la Bergerie then you know how much I love conversion stories. Read this most poignant and beautiful one, a Jewish convert to Catholicism: Sister Mary Samuele (born Sonia Katzmann) a Holy Spirit Adoration Sister here on the site: "Salvation is from the Jews" which is about, and celebrates, the relationship between Judaism and the Catholic Church and the conversion of the Jews, by Roy Schoeman.

Catholics Come Home Epic . This ad emphasizes the consistent and universal presence of the Catholic Church that opens its doors to all races, ages, cultures and socio-economic levels. Video for this ad includes scenes of the sacraments being received around the world. A must see. It's called "epic" and it was put together by the Catholic Come Home network whose apostolate is to: "create effective and compassionate media messages and broadcast them nationally and internationally, in order to inspire, educate and evangelize inactive Catholics and others, and invite them to live a deeper faith in Jesus Christ, in accord with the magesterium of the Roman Catholic Church".
Check the terrific ad "Epic" here

The intricacy and
the complexity
of the smallest
of your creatures,
Lord,
is a constant feast
for the attentive
and appreciative eye
(beautiful sea nettles
floating in the
Monterey Bay Aquarium).

Forgiving is a form of giving.
Mercy does not oppose justice, but fills it out.
Our love does not cause a thing's goodness, rather the thing's goodness, real or imagined, evokes our love, and enlists our help in preserving and furthering that goodness. But God's love evokes and creates the goodness in things. The lover in loving the good of the beloved and planning and working for it as thought the beloved was himself, is transported out of himself into the beloved; and we must dare to say with pseudo-Denys that in the abundance of his loving kindness and providence for everything that exists, God too is ecstatic with love.
Saint Thomas

5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds! An amazing animated map from the Wall Street Journal site: here

The Presidential primary and a Catholic assessment. By Douglas W. Kmiec. "Catholicism is neither Democratic nor Republican. The extensive body of Catholic social teaching is not a political platform, but it does supply what Joseph Pieper described as "the yardstick of every practical act of life." Thus, it is good to see political assessment as continuing the work of the apostles. Read the article here on CATHOLIC ONLINE.

Carpe blogem.
That's my motto for the day. Unless it's already taken... who knows.

Fulton Sheen: Seven Words of Jesus and Mary - a meditation for Lent. Here on the cross and in its shadow were the two most innocent persons of all history: Jesus was absolutely sinless because he is the Son of God; Mary was immaculate because she was preserved free from original sin, in virtue of the merits of her Divine Son. It was their innocence which made their sufferings so keen.

People living in dirt hardly ever realize how dirty dirt is. Those who live in sin hardly understand the horror of sin. The one peculiar and terrifying thing about sin is that the more experience you have with it, the less you know about it. You become so identified with it that you know neither the depths to which you have sunk nor the heights from which you have fallen.

You never know you were asleep until you wake up; and you never know the horror of sin until you get out of sin. Hence, only the sinless really know what sin is. And since here on the cross and beneath it, there is innocence at its highest, it follows that there was also the greatest sorrow. Since there was no sin, there was the greatest understanding of its evil. It was their innocence, or their ignorance of evil, which made the agonies of Calvary. To Jesus who forgave those who "know not", to Mary who won God because she could say "I know not", pray that you may know not evil and thus be good.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen: the Seven Words of Jesus and Mary, lessons on Cana and Calvary.
Our Lord said: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" Luke 23:34.
The Blessed Virgin Mary: "How shall this be done, because I know not man?" Luke 1:34.
A very interesting (and unusual) pairing of these words: "Know Not" or "the Value of Ignorance".

An awareness of God, though neither clear nor specific, exists in practically everyone. Some people think this is because it is self evident that God exists, others, think that natural use of reason leads men straight to some sort of knowledge of God, for when men observe the sure and ordered course that things pursue by nature, most people see that rule cannot exist without a ruler…

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Summa Contra Gentes quoted in "Summa Theologiae A Concise Translation" Edited by Timothy McDermott

The Power of Holy Water. Doug Berry of Radix speaks of the power of Holy Water. An amazing testimony to the power of holy water. Don’t be afraid to make it a practice of Lent. This is a terrific short video on Catholic Tube here. Check it out!

Lourdes: 150 years anniversary. In 1858 a ‘heavenly woman’ appeared to a young peasant in the French backwater of Lourdes. The American author Elizabeth Ficocelli discovers why, 150 years later, the town is a beacon of hope for millions of people around the world. Read the full story here on The Catholic Herald.

My own Lenten meditation here

A Papal Masterstroke: by Christopher A. Ferrara, REMNANT columnist. The Pope's Good Friday Prayer Reinforces Infallible Church Teaching… and the change is another positive development in this papacy, although I would never have thought so until I actually read the text of the new prayer . Read here .

Asking for a Moratorium on Abortion and a Moratorium on Death Penalty. Sr Nirmala Joshi says YES to the moratorium on abortion, article by Nirmala Carvalho. Kolkata (AsiaNews) – No to the death penalty and above all to abortion “the greatest destroyer of peace”, is the response of Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, Sr. Nirmala Joshi. Read more on this most compassionate answer from Mother Teresa "we have sent words to all the clinics, to the hospitals, police stations — please don't destroy the child, we will take the child, tell them come, we will take care of you, we will take the child from you, and we will get a home for the child”. Read it here on Asia News.

Doubts about the articles of faith
arise not from any uncertainty in their subject matter
but from our feebleness in understanding. Thomas Aquinas

Who Can Be Saved? For a very thorough treatment of the "salvation outside the Church" issue see this article by Avery Cardinal Dulles. The apostles and their associates are convinced that in Jesus they have encountered the Lord of Life and that he has brought them into the way that leads to everlasting blessedness. By personal faith in him and by baptism in his name, Christians have passed from darkness to light, from error to truth, and from sin to holiness. Read more in First Things (Feb. 2008)
The very same question has been covered extensively by Fr. William Most: IS THERE SALVATION OUTSIDE THE CHURCH? here where he speaks of the restrictive texts and the other more broad texts of the Fathers of the Church and the Magisterium and what it really means for us, for all... (I happen to love the way Father Most articulates the faith and how he opens up Scriptures).

An evening with Mother Lillie Last night, Mother Lillie spoke about counting our blessings and thanking God, this most wondrous God who created us and love us, who put us here for a very specific reason and do we know that reason? Or do we let ourselves be distracted from our true vocation and spend so much time grumbling and complaining… She spoke to great length about the children of Mount Tabor, of the love and healing that they receive from the Sisters and the joy and love that they give in return and of the true healing that can only be accomplished by the love of Jesus, this most deep and complete healing that will overcome any abuse or brokenness.
See my notes here on Mother Lillie and The Trinitarians of Mary

Jesus said: "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free". (Jn 8:32)
Man's moral conscience is under an obligation to be open to the fullness of truth; he must seek it out and readily accept it when it presents itself to him.
(Instruction on Christian freedom and liberation)

A week ago, the West Coast Walk For Life 2008 happened along the Embarcadero and through the Wharf and it was such a wonderful event! The sun was shining, the crowd of marchers was larger than ever (25,000!) and it was a terrific testimony to the goodness of life and family, to the joyful support and strength that happens when so many different people team up for the common good. Because the common good of society is definitively resting on our ability to desire and welcome children and to foster a positive climate for putting families first. And that is what it is really about. About having a vision of life that goes farther than our own belly button. And to think that there were so many young people marching, so many beautiful young women, it brings a smile to my face just to remember them. See my notes and my pictures here

The Pope had prepared a speech and a group of agitated Church-haters forbid him to speak.
The speech was then posted on line and thousands and thousands read it right away!
In his speech, he started by asking the very pertinent questions of "Who is the Pope and what is his responsibility? And what is the university's place and mission in today's society"? And he went on to lay out the building blocks of his answer, one at a time, from the historical foundation of La Sapienza by Pope Boniface VIII, to the search for knowledge in the contemporary secular university. With references to Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, John Ralls and Jürgen Habermas and more, Pope Benedict's expose is fascinating and is all about the faith offered freely, the freedom brought by the truth and the progress made possible by reason!
And to think that they could not wait to shut him down…. Well, succeed they did not and his voice on his duty to keep the sensitivity to truth alive was clearly heard worldwide. In the process, we witnessed a very interesting exercise on the political limits of the freedom of expression understood by some and the immense facility of modern technological ways. Thus it is ironic that the (very) narrow understanding of science used by some to reject a man of the Church was in the end defeated by science itself. See here
Read his speech in full on Zenit here .

The truth makes us good and goodness is true.This is the optimism that lives in Christian faith, because to it has been conceded the vision of the Logos, of creative Reason that, in the incarnation of God, has revealed himself as the Good, as Goodness Itself. (BXVI La Sapienza)

The Bishop of Assisi once said to Francis, “I think your life is too hard, too rough. You don’t possess anything in this world.” And Francis replied, “If we had possessions, we would need weapons to defend them. They are frequently a source of quarrels and lawsuits. Possessions usually prove to be an obstacle in one’s search for God. That is why we do not desire temporal goods.”

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" 1 Cor 8:1

Where the Church is, there is the Holy Spirit and the fullness of grace - Irenaeus. “I believe and I confess that for the Church, for the world, for mankind there is no more important, more urgent question than what is accomplished in the eucharist. In reality, this question is most natural to faith, which lives by the thirst for entry into the wisdom of truth, by the thirst for the logical, reasonable, service of God that manifests and is rooted in the divine wisdom. It is truly the question of the ultimate meaning and purpose of all that is real, of the sacramental ascent to where “God will be all in all” and thus it is the question that, through faith, was constantly radiating as a mysterious burning in the hearts of the disciples on the road to Emmaus”. THE EUCHARIST by Alexander Schmemann.
On the crisis of our time: “Essentially, this crisis consists in a lack of connection and cohesion between what is accomplished in the eucharist and how it is perceived, understood and lived. To a certain degree this crisis has always existed in the Church. The life of the Church, or rather the people in the Church, has never been perfect, ideal”.

Man and Woman God Made Them. A new edition of Jean Vanier's heartfelt reflection on long-lasting friendship with the mentally disabled is timely. “The dignity of a human being and right relations between the sexes are under relentless and increasing assault in our secular society. In an age where everyone is entitled to a sexual relationship and where disabled people, when not aborted before birth, are often vulnerable to the well-meaning abuse of those who care for them, Vanier's is a prophetic voice. Seen from this perspective, society has an elementary choice: to walk alongside those who are dispossessed of brains and beauty -- or to walk over them.” Read more here on mercatornet.com.

Religion and Politics. In a reasoned and balanced statement, Archbishop George H. Niederauer attempts to answer the burning question of “Religion and Politics in 2008”.
Q: Don't critics of the Catholic Church increasingly condemn it for interfering inappropriately in public life and trying to impose its doctrine on the entire community?
A: Such criticism is on the increase. Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor of Westminster, England, is on target when he speaks of a “new secularist intolerance of religion”. The cardinal continues: “So when Christians stand by their beliefs they are intolerant dogmatists. When they sin, they are hypocrites. When they take the side of the poor they are softheaded liberals. When they seek to defend the family they are right-wing reactionaries." In this country we can all name newspapers that applaud bishops who oppose the death penalty as courageous moral leaders, and condemn as intrusive dogmatists those same spokesmen when they oppose physician-assisted suicide. … Conscience always requires serious attempts to make sound moral judgments based on the truths of our faith. Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their consciences in accord with human reason and the teaching of the Church."” Read more here .

Here’s the secret to keeping your children quiet at Mass by Michael Forrester. Up until recently I’d be one of those parents you see walking up and down the side aisles at Mass. One second I’d be seen holding my adorable child, whispering sweet nothings, proud (smug even), the very next in a panic by the nearest exit grappling a screaming child. And as I’d run, trying to dodge the knife-like stares of fellow parishioners, I’d often despair. Read more here on The Catholic Herald .

I was struck by these words that a famous author put in the mouth of one of his main character, talking to her brother: “I ask you only one thing, I beg you” she said touching his arm and staring at him through her tears with her luminous eyes. “I understand you” (and she lowered her gaze). “Don't think that suffering comes from men. Men are His instruments”. - Her eyes now fixed with confidence on a point above his head, as we stare at the place where is located a portrait. - “It is Him who sends us suffering and not men. Men are His instruments, they are not guilty. If anyone appears guilty toward you, forget and forgive. We do not have the right to chastise. Then you will understand the happiness of pardon.”
I wondered if “chastise” was the correct translation. Or was it “punish” in the original Russian? I guess I should look it up and possibly figure it out myself since I took Russian in high school. But so little of it is left now but a general sense of admiration for the great Russian classics. And that is what got me to pick up “War and Peace” and read it again. And if I love the passage above so very much it is because “forgiveness and love” represents the core of being a Christian for me, it is exactly in the exercise of these two action verbs (to forgive and to love) that we can practice our faith and strengthen our souls. And opportunities to exercise our faith will come up daily and tested we will be! Whether it is in the trivial routine stuff of our lives or in its big turning points.

Beauty is so often on the inside. “She is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, as are the Poor and the Immigrants”. By Mark and Louise Zwick. The little boy answered, “My mother is the most beautiful woman in the world.” The villagers were very happy with his reply. They now knew that the mother would be easy to find. Read more here .

“I was in prison and you visited me” Last night I was writing to a friend of mine who is incarcerated. It's a very strange thing where God places us… Read more here on luminousmiseries blog with a picture of Pope John XXIII, on Christmas Day, 1958, visiting the Roman prison.

Geneva, Taizé and 40 000 young believers filled with hope: from 28 December 2007 to 1 January 2008, tens of thousands of young adults from all over Europe and from other continents will be welcomed by church communities and families in Geneva and its surrounding region, both in Switzerland and France. It is the churches of the city together who sent the invitation to hold the 30th European Meeting of Young Adults on the shores of Lake Geneva. Read more here .

Taizé : the Letter from Cochabamba: a Latin American young adult meeting was held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, from October 10-14, 2007. It brought together 7000 participants from the different regions of Bolivia, from all the countries of Latin America and from several European countries. Read more here .

About becoming “hope” for others:
No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And equally, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. (Spe Salvi §48).

Patience in Suffering
7 Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble, brethren, against one another, that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the doors. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
(LETTER OF JAMES)

NJ is one step closer to abolishing the death penalty. The lay Catholic Community of Sant'Egidio asked the city of Rome to light up the Colosseum when New Jersey's governor signs into law a bill abolishing the death penalty in that state. “This historic vote in New Jersey is the clearest signal yet that the American public is moving away from capital punishment”. Read more on Zenit here .

Years ago, I used to think that the death penalty was OK in some cases, for instance, for the worst crimes of all, the ones making us cringe and draw back in horror. In those cases, I used to think that the State can kill the criminal in our name. But as I came back to the Church, as I started listening to the inner voice of faith in Christ, reassessing every facet of my life and readjusting every angle of my worldview, as I read scripture and the CCC and JPII, as I started praying (especially to Saint Paul), I slowly change my mind on this subject. Yes, we have a duty to put criminals away but do we have a duty to end their life? Do I believe that a conversion can happen in jail? Do I believe that even someone who has committed a heinous act can actually change and turn his life around one day? There is nothing more important than using our time on this planet to turn to God and/or to help our neighbor turn to God. As the Marists say: “I do not wish to put a stumbling block on my brother's path” and, to me, a lethal injection is too big of a stumbling block... I now want to promote respect for all human life, from the very beginning to the very end, for the strong and for the weak, for the able and the disabled, whether they are worthy of my respect or not. But beside this Christ-bound reason, there are many reasons that even non-believers should consider: the possibility of executing the wrong person, the fact that the poor, the handicapped and minorities get the death penalty more often than any other group, the fact that it is not working as a deterrent, the legal challenges to lethal injection, the possibility that it promotes a cycle of revenge and violence… See more here .

Is it about: "The death of French culture”? or “France's love affair with culture”? This is an ambivalent but interesting article on this subject “The days grow short. A cold wind stirs the fallen leaves, and some mornings the vineyards are daubed with frost. Yet all across France, life has begun anew: the 2007 harvest is in… Autumn means many things in many countries, but in France it signals the dawn of a new cultural year. And nobody takes culture more seriously than the French. They subsidize it generously; they cosset it with quotas and tax breaks. French media give it vast amounts of airtime and column inches. Even fashion magazines carry serious book reviews, and the Nov. 5 announcement of the Prix Goncourt was front-page news across the country”. Read more of this Time magazine article here . Whether France will regain a top leading position culturally or not anytime soon is not even the correct question because the whole deck of cards is being re-shuffled in this global and transient world of ours and the resulting hand will include a leading French influence (or a better word might be a “French-European influence”). I've got this theory about the emergence of dual- (or triple-) nation-concept which I should develop more soon... Qui vivra verra.

There is beauty in nature, and that beauty is often obvious to every one of us, such as the gorgeous and golden rays of the sunset, the mysterious and surging waves of the ocean or the breath-taking view from the top of the mountain. For one moment, we look and we admire, we take it in and we stand still, awe-struck. But the artist among us will be able to catch even more subtle changes in nature and bring us their simple and sober beauty, elegant and fragile, such as a drop of rain on a petal or the luminous outline of an autumn leaf against the setting sun. Once in a while, an especially great artist will offer us the opportunity to look at things in a completely new way and even affect a change in ourselves in the process and we walk away from the experience transformed and enriched. That's what the saints are! They can see better than most of us the grace of God in his creation and in his creatures and because of their radical love for God, they help us see the invisible filaments of grace filling the world. For one moment, through the saints, we see love in action, we feel the joy and peace that comes with it and we are swept along in that mysterious and beautiful wave of surrender, awe-struck. Well, at least that is how I see it. So I walk around with my camera and I take pictures. It's not that I am a great artist because I am pretty much your average middle-of-the-pack photographer but once in a while I get a good shot. And when I do, I smile and I am grateful. For that matter, I am often thankful for even the poor and fuzzy and fumbled shots, because I can, once in a while, still see the filaments through them too…
See my own pictures of the 4 Seasons of 2007:
Winter and Spring in the Alps here
Summer and Autumn in California here

2008 here

2007 here

2006 here

St. Clare's Retreat: un centre de retraite tenue par des Soeurs Franciscaines, dans les collines au dessus de Santa Cruz, en Californie. Un oasis de paix et de recueillement, de simplicité et de prières.

"Regardez donc les lis des champs, disait Jésus a ses apôtres, ils sont beaux, et c'est Dieu qui les a faits." " Regardez donc les oiseaux du ciel, ils sont insouciants et joyeux, et c'est Dieu qui les nourrit. " Les apôtres, qui voulaient apprendre a prier, se doutaient-ils que Jésus leur apprenait ainsi la plus belle des prières ? Le grand émerveillement de l'homme au milieu du monde de Dieu, émerveillement qui est a la fois la grand tache de l'homme et la forme la plus belle et la plus pure de la prière parce que c'est pour cela d'abord que Dieu a fait l'homme.
Extraits des Chemins de la prière, par G. Brossard, Prêtre de l'Oratoire.

Utiliser ses fautes pour mieux s'humilier.
La thèse admirablement démontrée dans la Somme de saint Thomas : " L'orgueil est, par nature, le pire de tous les péchés, plus grave que l'infidélité, le désespoir, l'homicide, la luxure, etc.… " La raison en est, continue-t-il, son aversion de Dieu. Dans les autres péchés, l'homme se détourne de Dieu par ignorance, par faiblesse, ou par le désir d'un bien quelconque. Mais l'orgueil détourne de Dieu, uniquement parce qu'il ne veut pas se soumettre à Dieu et à sa loi. C'est pourquoi, dit Boece, pendant que tous les vices fuient Dieu, l'orgueil seul lui tient tête. Si nous ne pouvons acquérir beaucoup de vertus, disait sainte Chantal, ayons au moins l'humilité. " C'est précisément sur cette absence de vertus sincèrement reconnue, c'est-à-dire sur la vraie notion que nos fautes nous donnent de notre pauvreté spirituelle et de notre néant, que nous pouvons asseoir la vertu mère de toutes les autres. L'humilité est appelée fondement de l'édifice spirituel, parce que Dieu, à qui seul appartient de bâtir, comme dit le prophète (Ps 126), n'édifiera jamais que sur le grand vide que nous aurons creusé par la vraie connaissance de nous même. "
Extraits de "L'Art d'utiliser ses fautes d'après Saint François de Sales" par Joseph Tissot.

Le Père Patrick Byrne, Secrétaire General de l'Association de la Sainte Enfance, annonce la sixième "Heure Sainte Eucharistique pour les Enfants du Monde". C'est aussi le 100ème anniversaire du Bienheureux Francisco ; l'un des trois petits bergers de Fatima.


Venez vous joindre a moi et avec le Bienheureux Francisco et les enfants des écoles qui seront rassemblés au Sanctuaire National de la Basilique de l'Immaculée Conception a Washington DC, le premier vendredi d'octobre, le 3. Nous aurons une procession magnifique avec une belle statue de Notre Dame de Fatima et nous prierons en face du Saint Sacrement et nous nous joindrons a un chapelet de la mission du monde. La chaine de télé EWTN transmettra cet événement dans 40 pays différents, unissant spirituellement tous les enfants du monde pour prier pour la paix dans nos familles et dans le monde. Le Saint Père Pape Benoit XVI compte sur les prières des enfants, venez vous joindre a nous !


Pour plus d'information, venez voir ici at wwww.childrenoftheeucharist.org

Comme tout autre problème concernant la vie humaine, le problème de la natalité doit être considéré, au-delà des perspectives partielles - qu'elles soient d'ordre biologique ou psychologique, démographique ou sociologique - dans la lumière d'une vision intégrale de l'homme et de sa vocation, non seulement naturelle et terrestre, mais aussi surnaturelle et éternelle. Et puisque, dans leur tentative de justifier les méthodes artificielles de contrôle des naissances, beaucoup ont fait appel aux exigences soit de l'amour conjugal, soit d'une " paternité responsable ", il convient de bien préciser la vraie conception de ces deux grandes réalités de la vie matrimoniale.
L'amour conjugal révèle sa vraie nature et sa vraie noblesse quand on le considère dans sa source suprême, Dieu qui est amour, " le Père de qui toute paternité tire son nom, au ciel et sur la terre ". Le mariage n'est donc pas l'effet du hasard ou un produit de l'évolution de forces naturelles inconscientes: c'est une sage institution du Créateur pour réaliser dans l'humanité son dessein d'amour. Par le moyen de la donation personnelle réciproque, qui leur est propre et exclusive, les époux tendent à la communion de leurs êtres en vue d'un mutuel perfectionnement personnel pour collaborer avec Dieu à la génération et à l'éducation de nouvelles vies.
De plus, pour les baptisés, le mariage revêt la dignité de signe sacramentel de la grâce, en tant qu'il représente l'union du Christ et de l'Eglise. C'est avant tout un amour pleinement humain, c'est-à-dire à la fois sensible et spirituel. Ce n'est donc pas un simple transport d'instinct et de sentiment, mais aussi et surtout un acte de la volonté libre, destiné à se maintenir et à grandir à travers les joies et les douleurs de la vie quotidienne, de sorte que les époux deviennent un seul cœur et une seule âme et atteignent ensemble leur perfection humaine.
C'est ensuite un amour total, c'est-à-dire une forme toute spéciale d'amitié personnelle, par laquelle les époux partagent généreusement toutes choses, sans réserves indues ni calculs égoïstes. Qui aime vraiment son conjoint ne l'aime pas seulement pour ce qu'il reçoit de lui, mais pour lui-même, heureux de pouvoir l'enrichir du don de soi.
C'est encore un amour fidèle et exclusif jusqu'à la mort. C'est bien ainsi, en effet, que le conçoivent l'époux et l'épouse le jour où ils assument librement et en pleine conscience l'engagement du lien matrimonial. Fidélité qui peut parfois être difficile, mais qui est toujours possible et toujours noble et méritoire, nul ne peut le nier. L'exemple de tant d'époux à travers les siècles prouve non seulement qu'elle est conforme à la nature du mariage, mais encore qu'elle est source de bonheur profond et durable.
C'est enfin un amour fécond, qui ne s'épuise pas dans la communion entre époux, mais qui est destiné à se continuer en suscitant de nouvelles vies. " Le mariage et l'amour conjugal sont ordonnés par leur nature à la procréation et à l'éducation des enfants. De fait, les enfants sont le don le plus excellent du mariage et ils contribuent grandement au bien des parents eux-mêmes ."

Extraits des paragraphes 7, 8 et 9 Humanae Vitae.

Le site de l’année jubilaire consacrée à saint Paul : www.annee-jubilaire-saint-paul.fr ici . Une année avec saint Paul : commentaire de versets choisis des épîtres de l'Apôtre; des pelerinages, des voyages, des livres et des sermons, et beaucoup de liens et d'information sur cette annee de saint Paul.

Tout est pur pour les purs.
Mais pour ceux qui sont souillés
et qui n'ont pas la foi,
rien n'est pur.
(La lettre de Saint Paul a Tite 1:15)

Car ce n'est pas nous que nous prêchons, mais le Christ Jésus, Seigneur ; nous ne sommes, nous, que vos serviteurs, à cause de Jésus. Car tout cela arrive à cause de vous, pour que la grâce, se multipliant, fasse abonder l'action de grâces chez un plus grand nombre, à la gloire de Dieu. Nous sommes donc ambassadeurs du Christ ; c'est comme si Dieu exhortait par nous. Nous vous en supplions au nom du Christ : laissez-vous réconcilier avec Dieu.
Saint Paul. Extraits de la Second Lettre aux Corinthiens, chapitre 5. La Bible de Jerusalem

Le brouillard sur les collines ou la brume sur la baie. C'est l'été.

Les JMJ en Australie! Sydney vient de vivre une semaine exceptionnelle, un moment privilégié…
En voici des extraits :

Homélie du cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archevêque de Paris : Vous l'avez entendu dans le livre du prophète Isaïe : à défaut de convertir les cœurs, on convertit les chants, les cantiques. On organise de grandes fêtes, des fêtes monstres, où l'on fait étalage de nos bons sentiments. Si cela peut passer à la télévision, c'est encore mieux. A défaut, on fait confiance à Dieu qu'il jette un œil là-dessus quand même et se dise : " C'est pour moi qu'ils font tout cela ". Seulement, vous l'avez entendu : " Très bien, profitez de vos fêtes, mais ce que je veux, ce qui me plaît, ce ne sont pas vos fêtes, ce sont vos cœurs.". Dieu veut bien recevoir nos fêtes et nos chants et nos danses et nos offrandes, à condition que nous ne lui refusions pas la seule offrande qui lui plaise, c'est-à-dire nous-mêmes. … Entendre la question : " Que veux-tu faire de ta vie ? Veux-tu la garder, la défendre, la protéger, ou es-tu prêt à la donner ? "

Homelie de la messe d'ouverture, par le cardinal Pell, Achevêque de Sydney: Je commence par accueillir et encourager tous ceux, où qu'ils soient, qui se considèrent égarés, en détresse profonde, sans espérance ou même épuisés. Jeunes et vieux, hommes et femmes, le Christ continue d'appeler ceux qui souffrent à venir à lui pour être guéris, comme il le fait depuis deux mille ans. La cause de la blessure est quelque chose de secondaire, qu'il s'agisse de la drogue ou de l'alcool, des divisions familiales, des désirs de la chair, de la solitude ou de la mort. Peut-être même de la vacuité du succès…. La seconde lecture de la lettre de St Paul aux Galates nous montre la bonne direction, nous rappelant tous que chacun doit prendre position dans la lutte séculaire entre le bien et le mal, entre ce que Paul appelle la chair et l'Esprit. Ce n'est pas suffisant d'être seulement un passager, d'essayer de vivre en zone neutre entre les parties qui s'affrontent. La vie nous force à choisir et finit par détruire la possibilité de neutralité. Nous donnerons de bons fruits en apprenant le langage de la Croix et en l'inscrivant dans nos coeurs. Le langage de la Croix nous apporte les fruits de l'Esprit qui sont énumérés par Paul , nous permettant d'être habités de la paix et de la joie, et d'être gentils et généreux envers notre prochain. Suivre le Christ a un coût, n'est pas toujours facile, car cela requiert de combattre ce qui St Paul appelle " la chair ", notre ego implacable, notre bon vieil égoïsme. C'est toujours un combat, même pour un senior comme moi ! Ne vivez pas votre vie sans prendre position, mais posez des choix car seulement l'engagement apporte la plénitude.

RENCONTRE AVEC DES JEUNES EN DIFFICULTE : DISCOURS DE BENOIT XVI:
Les faux " dieux ", quels que soient le nom, l'image ou la forme que nous leur attribuions, sont presque toujours liés à l'adoration de trois réalités : les biens matériels, l'amour possessif, le pouvoir.
Les biens matériels, en soi, sont des choses bonnes. Nous ne survivrions pas longtemps sans argent, sans vêtements et sans logement. Pour vivre, nous avons besoin de nourriture. Mais, si nous sommes avides, si nous refusons de partager ce que nous avons avec l'affamé et avec le pauvre, alors nous transformons ces biens en une fausse divinité. Combien de voix, dans notre société matérialiste, nous disent que le bonheur se trouve en s'appropriant le plus grand nombre possible de biens et d'objets de luxe ! Mais cela signifie transformer les biens en fausses divinités. Au lieu de donner la vie, ils donnent la mort. L'amour authentique est certainement quelque chose de bon. Sans lui, la vie serait difficilement digne d'être vécue.
L'amour réalise notre aspiration la plus profonde ; et quand nous aimons, nous devenons plus pleinement nous-mêmes, nous devenons plus pleinement humains. Mais comme il est facile de transformer l'amour en une fausse divinité ! Souvent, les gens pensent aimer alors qu'en réalité, ils tendent à posséder l'autre ou à le manipuler. Parfois, les gens traitent les autres comme des objets pour satisfaire leurs propres besoins plutôt que comme des personnes à apprécier et à aimer. Comme il est facile d'être trompés par les nombreuses voix qui, dans notre société, défendent une approche permissive de la sexualité, sans prêter attention à la pudeur, au respect de soi et aux valeurs morales qui confèrent aux relations humaines leurs qualités ! C'est là adorer une fausse divinité. Au lieu de donner la vie, elle donne la mort.
Le pouvoir que Dieu nous a donné de façonner le monde autour de nous est certainement quelque chose de bon. Utilisé d'une façon appropriée et responsable, il nous permet de transformer la vie des gens. Toutes les communautés ont besoin de bons dirigeants. Mais combien est forte la tentation de s'attacher au pouvoir pour lui-même, de chercher à dominer les autres ou d'exploiter le milieu naturel pour ses propres intérêts égoïstes ! C'est là transformer le pouvoir en une fausse divinité. Au lieu de donner la vie, cela donne la mort. Le culte des biens matériels, le culte de l'amour possessif et le culte du pouvoir conduisent souvent les gens à " se comporter comme Dieu " : chercher à assumer un contrôle total, sans prêter aucune attention à la sagesse et aux commandements que Dieu nous a faits connaître. C'est là la route qui conduit à la mort. Au contraire, l'adoration de l'unique et vrai Dieu signifie reconnaître en lui la source de tout ce qui est bien, nous confier à lui, nous ouvrir à la force de guérison de sa grâce et obéir à ses commandements : là est la route de la vie….
Lire les textes en entier sur Zenit.org ici .

La prière est le cœur de la Communauté de Sant'Egidio et elle est sa première œuvre. La force faible de la prière: Rien n'est possible sans la prière, tout est possible par la prière faite avec foi. Les habitants de Nazareth, avec leur incrédulité, empêchèrent même au Seigneur de faire des miracles. Lire plus ici . Et lisez leur section sur LA PAIX: "Ces dix dernières années, la Communauté Sant’Egidio est obtenu une reconnaissance internationale pour sa contribution à la construction de la paix dans le monde. Dans les médias, on parle de "l’ONU du Trastevere" ou des "diplomates de Sant’Egidio". Dans l’Eglise catholique et dans les autres Eglises, on regarde la Communauté comme une référence où souffle fort l’esprit d’unité entre Chrétiens.

Ingrid Betancourt dans l'interview de La Croix ici
expliquant comment elle a put s'élever au dessus de la haine pour ses cruels géoliers pendant sa captivité.

J'ai écrit une Lettre Ouverte a Ingrid Betancourt, car je l'admire beaucoup et je la remercie pour tout ce qu'elle nous a déjà apporté… beaucoup de joie, d'espoir et un message de paix. C'est énorme et c'est merveilleux! Lire ma lettre ici et voir ma meditation/diaporama sur La Tres Sainte Marie.

Ingrid Bétancourt est libre! Quelle bonne nouvelle, j'en suis si heureuse. Finalement, après toutes ces années de captivité, elle retrouve la liberté, elle est réunit avec sa mère et ses enfants, avec sa famille et ses amis. Une operation de sauvetage impeccable, 15 personnes libérées en tout, dont 3 americains, le tout sans bavure, c'est une grande joie, un grand soulagement: Merci, Seigneur! Voir plus sur le site lefigaro.fr ici ou bien sur le site de La Croix: ici la-croix.com

Saints Pierre et Paul, priez pour nous!
Le Bienheureux Pierre, premier entre les Apôtres, et qui aima le Christ véhémentement, eut le bonheur de s'entendre dire : « Et moi je te dis : Tu es Pierre. Car l'apôtre avait déclaré : Tu es le Christ, le Fils du Dieu vivant. » Et le Christ répond : « Et moi, je te dis que tu es Pierre, et que sur cette pierre j'édifierai mon Eglise[11] » : sur cette pierre, j'édifierai la foi que tu confesses. Sur cette parole que tu as dite, « Tu es le Christ, le Fils du Dieu vivant », j'édifierai mon Eglise. Car toi, tu es Pierre. (Saint Augustin, Sermon CCLXXXV)
Remarquez le coq sur le portrait de Saint Pierre, qui sera pour toujours, et ce jusqu'a sa mort, une source de grande souffrance et de grand remord...

Paul est un passionné, une âme de feu qui se dévoue sans compter a un idéal et cet idéal est essentiellement religieux. Pour lui Dieu est tout et il le sert avec une loyauté absolue, d'abord en persécutant ceux qu'il tient pour des hérétiques, puis en prêchant le Christ quand il a compris par révélation qu'en lui seul est le salut. Ce zèle inconditionné se traduit dans une vie d'abnégation totale au service de celui qu'il aime. Il se sait le dernier de tous, lui le persécuteur, et n'attribue qu'a la grâce de Dieu les grandes choses qui se font par lui. (la Bible de Jérusalem)

La vie d’oraison Dieu, voulant «élever les hommes jusqu’au partage de la vie divine», met en nous le désir de le voir face à face. Lire plus ici sur cette belle page de La COMMUNAUTE DES BEATITUDES, qui fait partie des «communautés nouvelles» nées dans l'Eglise Catholique à la suite du Concile Vatican II et dans la mouvance du Renouveau charismatique. "Petites Soeurs des Maternités Catholiques" Voyez comme elles accueillent bien la vie ici ! J'ai entendu parler de l'incident récent a Bourgoin-Jallieu, en Isère, ou un père musulman s'est mis en colère et a fait enlever le crucifix du mur de la chambre ou était sa fille. Tout d'abord, j'en étais très attristée puis je me suis dit que, grâce a ce brouhaha médiatique, maintenant, nous pouvons tous prier pour lui et pour sa fille!

Saint Jean-Baptiste, priez pour nous! Le 24 juin, la Nativité de Saint Jean-Baptiste. Maintenant encore l’Eglise célèbre cette naissance ; elle ne célèbre que trois naissances, celle du Fils de Dieu, celle de sa mère et celle-ci ; elle sait « que pour l’homme le jour de la mort est meilleur que celui de sa naissance », et que toute naissance humaine est accompagnée de tristesse. C’est pourquoi elle célèbre la mort des martyrs qu’elle appelle leur naissance, car ils naissent vraiment à la vie quand ils se dépouillent de la vie pour le Christ. Mais cette naissance de Jean, l’Eglise la célèbre avec assurance sur la parole si expresse de l’Ange (saint Pierre Damien : sermon XXIII, sur la nativité de saint Jean-Baptiste, 4). Lire plus ici sur le site: missal.free.fr, le Calendrier Liturgique.

Au milieu de la nuit,
son cœur n'y tenant plus,
devant toutes les misères et les faiblesses entrevues,
il quitte la maison de Simon et va prier .

La misère provoque la prière = une des méditations trouvées sur le site oraweb.net ici .

Voir une diaporama sur: La Montagne,
ou la beauté de la nature est un émerveillement
qui se renouvèle constamment ;
que ce soit une procession de nuages
qui avance doucement et sérieusement;
ou bien le spectacle étonnant d'une fourmi escaladant
les pétales mouillés d'une pivoine après la pluie…
l'aventure nous attend a chaque tournant. ici

La miséricorde du Christ. Il existe, d'une certaine manière, une miséricorde du cœur et une miséricorde des mains. Ce que Jésus condamne c'est le fait d'établir soi-même que telle justice est la vraie justice et de considérer tous les autres comme des " voleurs, des personnes injustes et adultères ", au point d'ailleurs de leur nier la possibilité de changer. La façon dont Luc introduit la parabole du pharisien et du publicain est significative : " Jésus dit une parabole pour certains hommes qui étaient convaincus d'être justes et qui méprisaient tous les autres " (Lc 18, 9). Jésus était plus sévère avec ceux qui méprisaient ou condamnaient les pécheurs, qu'avec les pécheurs eux-mêmes (2). Rappelons ce que le père répond à son fils aîné : " Toi, mon enfant, tu es toujours avec moi, et tout ce qui est à moi est à toi " (Lc 15, 31). L'erreur du fils aîné est de considérer que le fait d'être toujours resté chez lui et d'avoir tout partagé avec son père, n'est pas un immense privilège, mais un mérite ; son attitude est plus celle d'un mercenaire que celle d'un fils. (Ceci devrait être un avertissement pour nous tous qui, dans notre manière de vivre nous trouvons dans la même position que le fils aîné !) Nous déduisons quelques critères, de l'attitude du Christ envers les pécheurs, examinée ci-dessus. Il ne banalise pas le péché mais trouve le moyen de ne jamais perdre l'affection pour les pécheurs, mais au contraire de les attirer à lui. Il ne voit pas seulement en eux ce qu'ils sont, mais ce qu'ils peuvent devenir s'ils sont touchés par la miséricorde divine au plus profond de leur misère et de leur désespoir. Il n'attend pas qu'ils vie