Ijournal entry 011116 #02. January, dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. Quotes from St Louis De Montfort, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Article: “A remedy for Pride based on something Jesus told St. Catherine of Siena”, Msgr. Charles Pope. Book: “ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM” by Baltasar Gracián , S.J. YouTube video: "Holiness and Prayer", by Matthew Leonard
"That is why our Lord said of Saint Paul: He is a chosen instrument of mine, the vessel of my choice, to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel. In this chosen vessel there was to be a drink more pleasing than earth ever knew, offered to all mankind for a price they could pay, so that they would be drawn to taste of it. Poured into other chosen vessels, it would grow and radiate splendour. For our Lord said: He is to carry my name". By San Bernardino of Siena (a.k.a. St. Bernadine of Siena)
⭕️ “God alone is my tenderness, God alone is my support, God alone is my every good, my life and my wealth”. St Louis De Montfort
🔴 “You must ask God to give you power to fight against the sin of pride which is your greatest enemy – the root of all that is evil, and the failure of all that is good. For God resists the proud". By St. Vincent de Paul
⚫️ "Be but faithful to Him with your whole heart, and never fear. He will support, direct, console, and finally crown your dearest Hope". By St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
⚫️ "Be but faithful to Him with your whole heart, and never fear. He will support, direct, console, and finally crown your dearest Hope". By St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
A little less than a week ago, the idea came in church to introduce something new for The GIG Ijournal Entries. In Eucharistic Adoration later, the means for it's introduction came by way of this poem: Journeying Towards the Kingdom in no Way Mum ~ Snackin on a Maxim
👞For those in a hurry & on the run
👞Or out and about, having some fun
👞Finding it hard to find enough time in the day to here with me dine
👞Hope you agree it's just right, this solution of mine
👞Adding something smacking brand new
👞Created to spiritually invigorate you
👞Picking up the slack if a cheese & cracker or dinner mint won't do
👞How about a Maxim as a holy delicious snack
👞With a lil meditation, it'll serve as a spiritual power pack
👞Lived out, you'll be trucking up the royal road like a Mack
👞Trying any way possible to pass the spiritual growth baton on
👞Cause spiritual skills are something we all have to hone
👞So ponder weekly and benefit by heeding the maxim's advice
👞Rest assured it's solid, so nothing for you to second guess or think about twice
The First Maxim to premiere is by one of my favorite popes: Pope JXXIII
Always acknowledge my own nothingness
(MPA= My Practical Application) Three take away points. Maybe if not three, try at least after reading, to come away with one point to turn over in your head.
🔅1. This year it's to work towards diminishing super sensitivity. By grace, grasp hold of humility and let go of pride. Jesus endured more than just talk or attitudes, He put up with much, much, more.
👞Or out and about, having some fun
👞Finding it hard to find enough time in the day to here with me dine
👞Hope you agree it's just right, this solution of mine
👞Adding something smacking brand new
👞Created to spiritually invigorate you
👞Picking up the slack if a cheese & cracker or dinner mint won't do
👞How about a Maxim as a holy delicious snack
👞With a lil meditation, it'll serve as a spiritual power pack
👞Lived out, you'll be trucking up the royal road like a Mack
👞Trying any way possible to pass the spiritual growth baton on
👞Cause spiritual skills are something we all have to hone
👞So ponder weekly and benefit by heeding the maxim's advice
👞Rest assured it's solid, so nothing for you to second guess or think about twice
The First Maxim to premiere is by one of my favorite popes: Pope JXXIII
Always acknowledge my own nothingness
(MPA= My Practical Application) Three take away points. Maybe if not three, try at least after reading, to come away with one point to turn over in your head.
🔅1. This year it's to work towards diminishing super sensitivity. By grace, grasp hold of humility and let go of pride. Jesus endured more than just talk or attitudes, He put up with much, much, more.
🔅2. It's to realize that what is of paramount importance is concentration on the greater and not on the lesser. Jesus' words to St. Catherine of Siena brings forth clarity:
“At the beginning of her visions, when the Lord Jesus Christ first began to appear to her, he said, “Do you know, daughter, who you are, And who I am? If you know these two things, you will be blessed. You are she is not; whereas I am He who is. Have this knowledge in you and the enemy will never deceive you…“
What better cherry topping than a scripture passage?
🔅3. Practical application means to be a doer and not just a hearer, to internalize that "God Is", and therefore be among those who worship, praise, and love Him as "self" fades into the background!
Article: “A remedy for Pride based on something Jesus told St. Catherine of Siena”, Msgr. Charles Pope
Info from this site: http://blog.adw.org/2013/09/a-remedy-for-pride-based-on-something-jesus-told-st-catherine-of-siena/
“We live in times collectively marked by pride. And, while pride is a problem of the human condition that has beset us from the very beginnings of paradise lost, our modern age, with the rise of atheism, rejection of God, scorn for the metaphysical, and a hyper-emphasis of the “autonomous” self, pride has taken an even more prominent place. Largely absent from the modern psyche is any deep notion that we are contingent beings, radically dependent on things, people and factors outside our “autonomous” self. Even before we bring God into the discussion, we seem less aware today that our existence and capacity to survive is deeply rooted in thousands, if not millions of factors outside us and beyond our immediate control.
Thank God (oops, did I say that?!), that your parents met, and your great grandparents, and your great, great, great, great…grandparents met, in all the combinations necessary for you to exist. Otherwise, no you! And let us not forget the trillions of other things necessary for all those human combinations to have happened. The earth has kept its almost perfect circular orbit at just the right distance from the Sun; the Sun and all that is necessary for its working has kept its stable burn, with no big flares or dimishments; the Van Allen belts have been up and running in the high atmosphere to deflect harmful radiation from the earth; the asteroid belt has collected asteroids and kept then from hurling on earth, Jupiter and Saturn are out there catching comets for us and keeping them away; every part of every cell of your body is functioning at a high rate of success, every molecule, and every atom too….well you get the point. We are very contingent beings. To say that we are contingent beings is to say that our existence is not necessary, does not explain itself, and is the result of other factors and people, not us. Our existence is neither necessary, likely, nor even all that predictable. We have discussed on the blog before that, according to the playful (but probably understated) odds of a mathematician the probability of you or I existing at all is 1 in 102,685,000. That’s a number so huge it hurts to think about it. (More on that article here: On the “Non-Probability” of your existence). There is no such thing as a “self-made man.” We are contingent, VERY contingent.
Our existence, is astonishingly unlikely and I would say miraculous. That you or I am here at all is almost inexplicable, given the number of things and people necessary for us to exist. Even before one brings God into the picture, a little humility is called for here based on how remarkably contingent and dependent we are are. For all the braggadocio of modern man, and all our talk about autonomy, Nietzschean Existentialism, “uberman”, self-determination, self-referentialism and all other anthropocentric, prideful and bold assertions, we look pretty pathetic, when we realize how dependent and contingent we really are. In a certain sense we barely exist at all, so dependent are we on things and people outside our self. If you can read this, thank a teacher, If you exist at all thank ten trillion (I am not exaggerating) other factors, forces and people. And how about thanking God? Frankly everything that exists in this created world is contingent and highly unlikely by itself. At some point everything cannot exist based on nothing. There must be some one or something that is “existence itself” and does not depend on, or stand on anything, or anyone before it. And that something, that someONE we call God.”
God is not some other thing in the universe, or even outside the universe. He is existence itself. To deny the existence of a non-contingent being is to deny yourself, for something cannot ultimately stand on nothing. There has to be a foundation that depends on nothing else to stand, that explains itself. For other things to subsist, there must be one who exists, who is existence itself. And that someone we call God. All of this came to mind the other day as I was reading The Life of St Catherine of Siena by her confessor, Blessed Raymond of Capua. In that work he relates a conversation that St. Catherine had with Jesus (which Catherine also relates in the Dialogue). In this conversation Jesus reminds Catherine of her contingency and dependance. He also gives Catherine the secret of overcoming pride so that our ancient enemy will never outwit us. Blessed Raymond recounts the dialogue of Jesus with Catherine in this way:
The holy Virgin told her confessors, of who, though unworthy, I was one, that, at the beginning of her visions, when the Lord Jesus Christ first began to appear to her, he said, “Do you know, daughter, who you are, And who I am? If you know these two things, you will be blessed. You are she is not; whereas I am He who is. Have this knowledge in you and the enemy will never deceive you…“
[Blessed Raymond continues]: A succinct doctrine… Oh, Immeasurable wisdom, wrapped in a few brief syllables…”You,” said the Lord, “are she who is not.” Indeed, all creatures are made from nothing, for “to create” means to make something from nothing. When creatures are left to themselves they tend to return to nothing, and if the creator ceased for one moment to preserve them in existence, they would rapidly be reduced to nothing again. … The Apostle says, “…for if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3). … And Jesus says “For without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). And [Blessed Raymond continues] here is a healing remedy, for what wound of pride can enter into a soul that knows itself to be nothing? Who can glory in anything he does? And thus, all vices are driven out by the words, “You are not”. And here too are many anxieties diminished. For, as Blessed Raymond attests, “Whenever I or any of the other friars was afraid of any danger, Catherine would say, “What have you to do with yourselves? Leave it to Divine Providence. However much afraid you are, Providence still has his eyes on you and is always aiming at your salvation.” [Pages 62-65, selected verses].
And thus, a sense of our contingency, that compared to God, you and are “are not”; is a remedy for pride. In an era of pride, of a false and excessive sense of self-sufficiency, autonomy, and that we can “craft” reality and answer to no one, a simple reminder of our contingency is essential. And here it is given and it is put in a way that only a Saint can relate: “You are she who is not… I (the Lord) am He who IS.” Have this knowledge in you you and you will be blessed, and the ancient enemy will never deceive you. For by this knowledge is the back of pride broken and is the basis for all humility formed.
Info from this site: http://blog.adw.org/2013/09/a-remedy-for-pride-based-on-something-jesus-told-st-catherine-of-siena/
“We live in times collectively marked by pride. And, while pride is a problem of the human condition that has beset us from the very beginnings of paradise lost, our modern age, with the rise of atheism, rejection of God, scorn for the metaphysical, and a hyper-emphasis of the “autonomous” self, pride has taken an even more prominent place. Largely absent from the modern psyche is any deep notion that we are contingent beings, radically dependent on things, people and factors outside our “autonomous” self. Even before we bring God into the discussion, we seem less aware today that our existence and capacity to survive is deeply rooted in thousands, if not millions of factors outside us and beyond our immediate control.
Thank God (oops, did I say that?!), that your parents met, and your great grandparents, and your great, great, great, great…grandparents met, in all the combinations necessary for you to exist. Otherwise, no you! And let us not forget the trillions of other things necessary for all those human combinations to have happened. The earth has kept its almost perfect circular orbit at just the right distance from the Sun; the Sun and all that is necessary for its working has kept its stable burn, with no big flares or dimishments; the Van Allen belts have been up and running in the high atmosphere to deflect harmful radiation from the earth; the asteroid belt has collected asteroids and kept then from hurling on earth, Jupiter and Saturn are out there catching comets for us and keeping them away; every part of every cell of your body is functioning at a high rate of success, every molecule, and every atom too….well you get the point. We are very contingent beings. To say that we are contingent beings is to say that our existence is not necessary, does not explain itself, and is the result of other factors and people, not us. Our existence is neither necessary, likely, nor even all that predictable. We have discussed on the blog before that, according to the playful (but probably understated) odds of a mathematician the probability of you or I existing at all is 1 in 102,685,000. That’s a number so huge it hurts to think about it. (More on that article here: On the “Non-Probability” of your existence). There is no such thing as a “self-made man.” We are contingent, VERY contingent.
Our existence, is astonishingly unlikely and I would say miraculous. That you or I am here at all is almost inexplicable, given the number of things and people necessary for us to exist. Even before one brings God into the picture, a little humility is called for here based on how remarkably contingent and dependent we are are. For all the braggadocio of modern man, and all our talk about autonomy, Nietzschean Existentialism, “uberman”, self-determination, self-referentialism and all other anthropocentric, prideful and bold assertions, we look pretty pathetic, when we realize how dependent and contingent we really are. In a certain sense we barely exist at all, so dependent are we on things and people outside our self. If you can read this, thank a teacher, If you exist at all thank ten trillion (I am not exaggerating) other factors, forces and people. And how about thanking God? Frankly everything that exists in this created world is contingent and highly unlikely by itself. At some point everything cannot exist based on nothing. There must be some one or something that is “existence itself” and does not depend on, or stand on anything, or anyone before it. And that something, that someONE we call God.”
God is not some other thing in the universe, or even outside the universe. He is existence itself. To deny the existence of a non-contingent being is to deny yourself, for something cannot ultimately stand on nothing. There has to be a foundation that depends on nothing else to stand, that explains itself. For other things to subsist, there must be one who exists, who is existence itself. And that someone we call God. All of this came to mind the other day as I was reading The Life of St Catherine of Siena by her confessor, Blessed Raymond of Capua. In that work he relates a conversation that St. Catherine had with Jesus (which Catherine also relates in the Dialogue). In this conversation Jesus reminds Catherine of her contingency and dependance. He also gives Catherine the secret of overcoming pride so that our ancient enemy will never outwit us. Blessed Raymond recounts the dialogue of Jesus with Catherine in this way:
The holy Virgin told her confessors, of who, though unworthy, I was one, that, at the beginning of her visions, when the Lord Jesus Christ first began to appear to her, he said, “Do you know, daughter, who you are, And who I am? If you know these two things, you will be blessed. You are she is not; whereas I am He who is. Have this knowledge in you and the enemy will never deceive you…“
[Blessed Raymond continues]: A succinct doctrine… Oh, Immeasurable wisdom, wrapped in a few brief syllables…”You,” said the Lord, “are she who is not.” Indeed, all creatures are made from nothing, for “to create” means to make something from nothing. When creatures are left to themselves they tend to return to nothing, and if the creator ceased for one moment to preserve them in existence, they would rapidly be reduced to nothing again. … The Apostle says, “…for if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3). … And Jesus says “For without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). And [Blessed Raymond continues] here is a healing remedy, for what wound of pride can enter into a soul that knows itself to be nothing? Who can glory in anything he does? And thus, all vices are driven out by the words, “You are not”. And here too are many anxieties diminished. For, as Blessed Raymond attests, “Whenever I or any of the other friars was afraid of any danger, Catherine would say, “What have you to do with yourselves? Leave it to Divine Providence. However much afraid you are, Providence still has his eyes on you and is always aiming at your salvation.” [Pages 62-65, selected verses].
And thus, a sense of our contingency, that compared to God, you and are “are not”; is a remedy for pride. In an era of pride, of a false and excessive sense of self-sufficiency, autonomy, and that we can “craft” reality and answer to no one, a simple reminder of our contingency is essential. And here it is given and it is put in a way that only a Saint can relate: “You are she who is not… I (the Lord) am He who IS.” Have this knowledge in you you and you will be blessed, and the ancient enemy will never deceive you. For by this knowledge is the back of pride broken and is the basis for all humility formed.
Book: “ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM” by Baltasar Gracián , S.J. (1892)
Excerpt from the chapter on "Maxims"
“Many men have sought to give their views about man and about life in a pithy way; a few have tried to advise men in short sentences what to do in the various emergencies of life. The former have written aphorisms, the latter maxims. Where the aphorism states a fact of human nature, a maxim advises a certain course of action. The aphorism is written in the indicative, the maxim in an imperative mood.i "Life is interesting if not happy, is an aphorism. "Ascend a step to choose a friend, descend a step to choose a wife," is a maxim.
Now it is indeed curious how few maxims have ever been written. Wisdom has been extolled on the house-tops, but her practical advice seems to have been kept secret. It is indeed because of the unpractical nature of practical maxims that they have been so much neglected. You must act in the concrete, you can only maximize in general terms. Then, again, maxims can only appeal to the mind, to the intellect: the motive force of action is the will, the temperament. As Disraeli put it : " The conduct of men depends on the temperament, not upon a bunch of musty maxims. It is only very distantly that a maxim can stir the vague desire that spurs an imitative will. True, at times we read of men whose whole life has been coloured by a single saying. But these have generally been more appeals to the imagination, like Newman's " Securus judicat orbis terrarum," or the " Heu ! fuge crudeles terras, fuge litus avarum," which had so decisive an effort on Savonarola's life. It is rare indeed that a man's whole life is tinged by a single practical maxim like Sir Daniel Gooch, who was influenced by hisMfather's advice, " Stick to one thing."
Perhaps one of the reasons that have led literary persons to neglect the Maxim as a literary form has been their own ignorance of Action and, still more, their exaggerated notions of its difficulties and complexities. Affairs are not conducted by aphorisms: war is waged by a different kind of Maxims from those we are considering. Yet after all there must be some general principles on which actions should be conducted, and one would think they could be determined. Probably the successful men of action are not sufficiently self-observant to know exactly on what their success depends, and, if they did, they would in most cases try to " keep it in the family," like their wealth or their trade secrets. And perhaps after all they are right who declare that action has little to do with intellect, and much with character.
Why so few maxims have been composed, it may be contradictory to give a reason because so many exist under another form. For what are the majority of proverbs but maxims under another name, or rather maxims without the name of their author"
Excerpt from the chapter on "Maxims"
“Many men have sought to give their views about man and about life in a pithy way; a few have tried to advise men in short sentences what to do in the various emergencies of life. The former have written aphorisms, the latter maxims. Where the aphorism states a fact of human nature, a maxim advises a certain course of action. The aphorism is written in the indicative, the maxim in an imperative mood.i "Life is interesting if not happy, is an aphorism. "Ascend a step to choose a friend, descend a step to choose a wife," is a maxim.
Now it is indeed curious how few maxims have ever been written. Wisdom has been extolled on the house-tops, but her practical advice seems to have been kept secret. It is indeed because of the unpractical nature of practical maxims that they have been so much neglected. You must act in the concrete, you can only maximize in general terms. Then, again, maxims can only appeal to the mind, to the intellect: the motive force of action is the will, the temperament. As Disraeli put it : " The conduct of men depends on the temperament, not upon a bunch of musty maxims. It is only very distantly that a maxim can stir the vague desire that spurs an imitative will. True, at times we read of men whose whole life has been coloured by a single saying. But these have generally been more appeals to the imagination, like Newman's " Securus judicat orbis terrarum," or the " Heu ! fuge crudeles terras, fuge litus avarum," which had so decisive an effort on Savonarola's life. It is rare indeed that a man's whole life is tinged by a single practical maxim like Sir Daniel Gooch, who was influenced by hisMfather's advice, " Stick to one thing."
Perhaps one of the reasons that have led literary persons to neglect the Maxim as a literary form has been their own ignorance of Action and, still more, their exaggerated notions of its difficulties and complexities. Affairs are not conducted by aphorisms: war is waged by a different kind of Maxims from those we are considering. Yet after all there must be some general principles on which actions should be conducted, and one would think they could be determined. Probably the successful men of action are not sufficiently self-observant to know exactly on what their success depends, and, if they did, they would in most cases try to " keep it in the family," like their wealth or their trade secrets. And perhaps after all they are right who declare that action has little to do with intellect, and much with character.
Why so few maxims have been composed, it may be contradictory to give a reason because so many exist under another form. For what are the majority of proverbs but maxims under another name, or rather maxims without the name of their author"
YouTube video: "Holiness and Prayer", by Matthew Leonard
Link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YvAK-arzWU&sns=em
Link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YvAK-arzWU&sns=em
Be not like kno it alls, proudly headed left wit all their mite \☀/ | http://gigapostolate.weebly.com/ / \tmm/PTL |