Ijournal entry 111317 #45. November, Month of The Holy Souls. The Rule of St. Benedict. Quotes by St. Ammonas the Hermit, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and St. Catherine of Siena. "OFFENSES AGAINST TRUTH", from Catechism of Catholic Church. "Whether it is unlawful to form a judgment from suspicions?", from the Summa by St. Thomas Aquinas. YouTube video: "Judging Principles & Fraternal Correction", by Fr. Chad Ripperger.
"Saint Catherine of Genoa states in her treatise on purgatory that “if a soul were brought to see God when it had still a trifle of which to purge itself, a great injury would be done it.” Conversely, “a great happiness is granted to the Holy Souls that grows as they draw nearer God. For every glimpse which can be had of God exceeds any pain or joy a man can feel. The Holy Souls clearly see God to be on fire with extreme love for them. Strongly and unceasingly this love draws the soul with that uniting look, as though it had nothing else to do than this.” We offer our penances with the hope of giving the Holy Souls such a glimpse of God. Saint Augustine assures us: “It cannot be doubted that the prayers of the Church relieve the Holy Souls, and move God to treat them with more clemency than their sins deserve.” By Fr. John Cameron, O.P.
The Rule of St. Benedict
"Above all things let him have humility, and if he have nothing else to give, let him give a good word in answer; for it is written: A good word is above the best gift.2 Let him have under his care all those things which the abbot has assigned to him, but presume not to deal with what he has forbidden to him. Let him give the brethren their appointed allowance of food without any arrogance or delay, that they may not be scandalized, mindful of what the Scripture saith that he deserves who shall scandalize one of these little ones.3 If the community be a large one, let helpers be given him, so that by their assistance he too may fulfil with a quiet mind the charge that has been committed to him. Let those things which have been asked for and those things which have to be given, be asked for and given at the proper time; so that no one may be troubled or vexed in the house of God"
(MC=My Comments)- Thoughts are running to this scripture:
"Above all things let him have humility, and if he have nothing else to give, let him give a good word in answer; for it is written: A good word is above the best gift.2 Let him have under his care all those things which the abbot has assigned to him, but presume not to deal with what he has forbidden to him. Let him give the brethren their appointed allowance of food without any arrogance or delay, that they may not be scandalized, mindful of what the Scripture saith that he deserves who shall scandalize one of these little ones.3 If the community be a large one, let helpers be given him, so that by their assistance he too may fulfil with a quiet mind the charge that has been committed to him. Let those things which have been asked for and those things which have to be given, be asked for and given at the proper time; so that no one may be troubled or vexed in the house of God"
(MC=My Comments)- Thoughts are running to this scripture:
Truly how wonderful to not be a source of vexation (sorry y'all), and be not vexed. A sheer delight to be in the company of those united in one accord, journeying and moving forward to reach higher grounds, through, with, and in Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit to the Glory of God.
🍐“It is indeed essential for a man to take up the struggle against his thoughts if the veils woven from his thoughts and covering up his intellect are to be removed, thus enabling him to turn his gaze without difficulty toward God and to avoid following the will of his wandering thoughts.” By St. Ammonas the Hermit
🏀"Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves... the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance... grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate... Costly grace is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life" By Dietrich Bonhoeffer
🍥 "Lord, I shall not move away from Your feet, Your Presence, as long as Your goodness has not conceded to me what I desire, as long as You do not agree to what I ask of You. I want You to promise me eternal life for all those whom I love. Lord put Your hand in mine! Give me proof You shall give me that which I beseech You". By St. Catherine of Siena
🏀"Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves... the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance... grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate... Costly grace is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life" By Dietrich Bonhoeffer
🍥 "Lord, I shall not move away from Your feet, Your Presence, as long as Your goodness has not conceded to me what I desire, as long as You do not agree to what I ask of You. I want You to promise me eternal life for all those whom I love. Lord put Your hand in mine! Give me proof You shall give me that which I beseech You". By St. Catherine of Siena
Another two for one deal. Sharing my response to a post entitled: Ever-Whirling Trinity", by Dr. Thomas J.Neal. Here is the web address for the post: https://nealobstat.wordpress.com/2017/10/30/27741/. Had to thank Him for providing the day’s spiritual exercise. It took the form of a poetic hitchhike, which resulted in my spiritual homework assignment being easy, easy, easy. Also his recounted Mass experience was a source of happiness because of a kind of validation it provided for me.
When some spiritual contemplation or meditation would unfold during the Mass, it would be mildly disconcerting. Otherwise, outside of Mass, they would bring about great elation, sending my spirit soaring. My thoughts at the time were that maybe God was moving in an advantageous way to salvage something from the moment because of some sort of lack on my part. Sometimes the mind can wander off after slipping off the leash, but thanks be to God for graces that allows for reentry into the majestic arena of love which the Holy Mass provides. Dr. TJN's experience was during Holy Mass, and not before or after, when a beautiful poem opened up to him:
O Whirling Trinity
At present now, I my longing vigil keep
looking round-about for you, O Far-Near,
you who neither slumber nor sleep
who in love I seek, even as yet I fear.
You come so fast, of sudden, falling into sight:
Love’s descent, then, now and ever yet to be,
I choose you, O thrice holy Light of Light,
my Coming, Crashing, ever-Whirling Trinity.
A Poetic Highjack
When some spiritual contemplation or meditation would unfold during the Mass, it would be mildly disconcerting. Otherwise, outside of Mass, they would bring about great elation, sending my spirit soaring. My thoughts at the time were that maybe God was moving in an advantageous way to salvage something from the moment because of some sort of lack on my part. Sometimes the mind can wander off after slipping off the leash, but thanks be to God for graces that allows for reentry into the majestic arena of love which the Holy Mass provides. Dr. TJN's experience was during Holy Mass, and not before or after, when a beautiful poem opened up to him:
O Whirling Trinity
At present now, I my longing vigil keep
looking round-about for you, O Far-Near,
you who neither slumber nor sleep
who in love I seek, even as yet I fear.
You come so fast, of sudden, falling into sight:
Love’s descent, then, now and ever yet to be,
I choose you, O thrice holy Light of Light,
my Coming, Crashing, ever-Whirling Trinity.
A Poetic Highjack
O Whirling Trinity – An Experience Of Gracious and Grand Glory
😎DTJN = At present now, I my longing vigil keep
💅tmm- In anticipation of the future glory to be had, my spirit at times most joyously do weep
😎DTJN= Looking round-about for you, O Far-Near,
💅tmm= Then unexpectedly a glimpse is mine of what is gloriously sublime and dear
😎DTJN= You who neither slumber nor sleep
💅tmm= At every opportune moment enters into my soul penetrating each time ever so deep
😎DTJN= Who in love I seek, even as yet I fear.
💅tmm= But all reservations fail and stall as your fragrance signals your presence is drawing near
😎DTJN= You come so fast, of sudden, falling into sight:
💅tmm= O God, O God, O God, Three in One, O God, my God, God of Power and Might
😎DTJN= Love’s descent, then, now and ever yet to be,
💅tmm= No fantasy, the highest of high, stark, in your face reality
😎DTJN=I choose you, O thrice Holy Light of Light,
💅tmm= Seen most clearly in the soul’s dark night
😎DTJN= My Coming, Crashing, ever-Whirling Trinity.
💅tmm= How glorious and grand to be romanced by Divinity
Dr. Thomas J. Neal ~ tmm/TruGIG
™
One more point to share is when Dr. TJN referenced the “epiclesis” point in the Holy Mass, it occurred to me that this is the perfect time to pray to the Holy Spirit, and say to Him what was given to me to say to Jesus after receiving His precious Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. Among many “ACP’s” (After Communion Pleas), as they are called, will now pray to the Holy Holy Spirit: “Holy Spirit, take more of myself for you and give more of yourself to me”. This seems appropriate because when coming daily to acknowledge the Holy Trinity's authority over me by The Father’s Fathership, Jesus’ Lordship and Kingship, and the Power Ship of the Holy Spirit, the Father wishes that the daily plea be for more of the Holy Spirit. This makes possible to fortify wanting what He wants, and being able to more readily accept what He permits to happen.
😎DTJN = At present now, I my longing vigil keep
💅tmm- In anticipation of the future glory to be had, my spirit at times most joyously do weep
😎DTJN= Looking round-about for you, O Far-Near,
💅tmm= Then unexpectedly a glimpse is mine of what is gloriously sublime and dear
😎DTJN= You who neither slumber nor sleep
💅tmm= At every opportune moment enters into my soul penetrating each time ever so deep
😎DTJN= Who in love I seek, even as yet I fear.
💅tmm= But all reservations fail and stall as your fragrance signals your presence is drawing near
😎DTJN= You come so fast, of sudden, falling into sight:
💅tmm= O God, O God, O God, Three in One, O God, my God, God of Power and Might
😎DTJN= Love’s descent, then, now and ever yet to be,
💅tmm= No fantasy, the highest of high, stark, in your face reality
😎DTJN=I choose you, O thrice Holy Light of Light,
💅tmm= Seen most clearly in the soul’s dark night
😎DTJN= My Coming, Crashing, ever-Whirling Trinity.
💅tmm= How glorious and grand to be romanced by Divinity
Dr. Thomas J. Neal ~ tmm/TruGIG
™
One more point to share is when Dr. TJN referenced the “epiclesis” point in the Holy Mass, it occurred to me that this is the perfect time to pray to the Holy Spirit, and say to Him what was given to me to say to Jesus after receiving His precious Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. Among many “ACP’s” (After Communion Pleas), as they are called, will now pray to the Holy Holy Spirit: “Holy Spirit, take more of myself for you and give more of yourself to me”. This seems appropriate because when coming daily to acknowledge the Holy Trinity's authority over me by The Father’s Fathership, Jesus’ Lordship and Kingship, and the Power Ship of the Holy Spirit, the Father wishes that the daily plea be for more of the Holy Spirit. This makes possible to fortify wanting what He wants, and being able to more readily accept what He permits to happen.
"OFFENSES AGAINST TRUTH", from Catechism of Catholic Church
Info from this site:
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a8.htm
"OFFENSES AGAINST TRUTH-
🙀2475 Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."274 By "putting away falsehood," they are to "put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander."275
🙀2476 False witness and perjury. When it is made publicly, a statement contrary to the truth takes on a particular gravity. In court it becomes false witness.276 When it is under oath, it is perjury. Acts such as these contribute to condemnation of the innocent, exoneration of the guilty, or the increased punishment of the accused.277 They gravely compromise the exercise of justice and the fairness of judicial decisions.
🙀2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury.278 He becomes guilty:
- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;279
- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
🙀2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:
Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.280🙀2479 Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity"
Info from this site:
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a8.htm
"OFFENSES AGAINST TRUTH-
🙀2475 Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."274 By "putting away falsehood," they are to "put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander."275
🙀2476 False witness and perjury. When it is made publicly, a statement contrary to the truth takes on a particular gravity. In court it becomes false witness.276 When it is under oath, it is perjury. Acts such as these contribute to condemnation of the innocent, exoneration of the guilty, or the increased punishment of the accused.277 They gravely compromise the exercise of justice and the fairness of judicial decisions.
🙀2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury.278 He becomes guilty:
- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;279
- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
🙀2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:
Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.280🙀2479 Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity"
"Whether it is unlawful to form a judgment from suspicions?", from the Summa by St. Thomas Aquinas
Info from this site:
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3060.htm
"I answer that, As Tully says (De Invent. Rhet. ii), suspicion denotes evil thinking based on slight indications, and this is due to three causes. First, from a man being evil in himself, and from this very fact, as though conscious of his own wickedness, he is prone to think evil of others, according to:
Info from this site:
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3060.htm
"I answer that, As Tully says (De Invent. Rhet. ii), suspicion denotes evil thinking based on slight indications, and this is due to three causes. First, from a man being evil in himself, and from this very fact, as though conscious of his own wickedness, he is prone to think evil of others, according to:
Ecclesiastes 10:3, "The fool when he walketh in the way, whereas he himself is a fool, esteemeth all men fools." |
Secondly, this is due to a man being ill-disposed towards another: for when a man hates or despises another, or is angry with or envious of him, he is led by slight indications to think evil of him, because everyone easily believes what he desires. Thirdly, this is due to long experience: wherefore the Philosopher says (Rhet. ii, 13) that "old people are very suspicious, for they have often experienced the faults of others." The first two causes of suspicion evidently connote perversity of the affections, while the third diminishes the nature of suspicion, in as much as experience leads to certainty which is contrary to the nature of suspicion. Consequently suspicion denotes a certain amount of vice, and the further it goes, the more vicious it is.
Now there are three degrees of suspicion. The first degree is when a man begins to doubt of another's goodness from slight indications. This is a venial and a light sin; for "it belongs to humantemptation without which no man can go through this life," according to a gloss on:
Now there are three degrees of suspicion. The first degree is when a man begins to doubt of another's goodness from slight indications. This is a venial and a light sin; for "it belongs to humantemptation without which no man can go through this life," according to a gloss on:
1 Corinthians 4:5, "Judge not before the time." |
The second degree is when a man, from slight indications, esteems another man's wickedness as certain. This is a mortal sin, if it be about a grave matter, since it cannot be without contempt of one's neighbor. Hence the same gloss goes on to say: "If then we cannot avoid suspicions, because we are human, we must nevertheless restrain our judgment, and refrain from forming a definite and fixed opinion." The third degree is when a judge goes so far as to condemn a man on suspicion: this pertains directly to injustice, and consequently is a mortal sin."
YouTube video: "Judging Principles & Fraternal Correction", by Fr. Chad Ripperger
Info from this site:
https://youtu.be/3AfrBLWBgFg
Info from this site:
https://youtu.be/3AfrBLWBgFg