Fool vs. Man

"The foot of a fool rushes into a house, but a man of experience stands respectfully before it. A boor peers into the house from the door, but a cultivated man remains outside. It is ill-mannered for a man to listen at a door, and a discreet man is grieved by the disgrace." Sirach 21:22-24

It strikes me that this parallels a man courting a woman. The fool will try to reach inside her beauty and strive to gain entrance to her, emotionally and physically. But a man who has experience of God will stand respectfully before her. If she knows her dignity and keeps him outside and her door closed, then the fool will peer into her and listen at the door to try to gain entrance to her heart and being. But a good man will remain outside, and be grieved by any other man attempting to force his entry. The good man is like a sentry, guarding her door for her rather than trying to force his way in.

Faith, Works, and Chastity

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ...Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble." --James 2:14,17-19

It struck me in Mass that this is very much what is so lacking in the realm of chastity. So many "believe" in the good of chastity, and yet in actuality they do not. How can you tell? The way they dress, the way they act-- is it respectful of the dignity of their own person? Is it respectful of the dignity of others? How do they speak? Do they laugh at crude jokes? We must not merely pay lip service to this virtue, but truly live it and allow it to penetrate our beings. Even the demons know that chastity is glorifying to God and important for our souls-- that is why they attack it! And yet we so often shrug it off as not a big deal. We are talking here about the dignity of human persons. We are talking about the attainment of eternal life. Face it: it is a big deal.

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." --Mark 8:34

In a homily today, the priest pointed out that it says we must take up our cross. It does not say we must bear our cross. These words of Christ do not mean endure and bear your pains and sufferings. It means that it is our choice to take up the cross, to carry and live the Gospel! We will all suffer; it is rather a matter of choice for whom we will suffer. This requires action, not passivity. Either we will choose to suffer for God, and offer it up to Him and glorify Him, or we will offer it to the devil for his evil designs. It says take up your cross. Christ is the one who who will carry our cross--it is too heavy for us! In fact, He has already carried our cross. But in order for Him to carry it for us, we must choose to take it up!

The One Who Doubts

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudg-
ingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways."--James 1:5-8

We must be steadfast in our Faith, and allow God to calm the storms of our hearts. So often we call out to Him, but do not expect to hear back; we do not listen, and so do not hear his answer. And when we do not hear His answer, when we do not trust that He will answer, we are swept about by our emotions and passions and the opinions of others. We must trust in the Lord always, and listen for His counsel; we must still the storms of our passions and emotions and attachments so that we can hear His divine whisper of peace.

Immaculate Conception

excerpt from Saint Maximilian Kolbe:

In Lourdes, Bernadette asked the Virgin Mary her name and she replied: "I am the Immaculate Conception." By her luminous words, Mary expressed that she was not only conceived immaculately but that she actually was the Immaculate Conception. It is like the difference between something white and whiteness itself, or something perfect and perfection.

(...) The Holy Spirit is the uncreated Immaculate Conception. (...) The third person of the Trinity is not embodied as we all know and our word "spouse" is insufficient to express the relationship between the Immaculate and the Holy Spirit. It can be said that the Immaculate Conception is in a sense "the incarnation of the Holy Spirit."

"Put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." --John 20:27

"Christ is recognized now, not so much by His face, as by His wounds. Thomas believes that the qualifying signs of Jesus are above all, the wounds which reveal the point to which He loved us."--Benedict XVI

Know Christ's passion. Know His suffering and crucifixion. Know His love for you, as an individual, His bride. Let Him love you. Know that He died for you, to make for Himself a spotless bride. Put your hand in his side, and believe His love for you!

"In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world." --John 16:33

No matter what happens in your day or in your life, take confidence that though a battle may have been lost, the victory has already been won! Satan can do nothing to take away from Christ's total victory. All we must do is choose to cling to Christ, to choose to make His victory our victory!

Love is a Rose

Love is a rose but you better not pick it,
It only grows when it's on the vine.
A handful of thorns and you'll know you've missed it,
You lose your love when you say the word 'mine.'
--Neil Young

Love is not possessive. Love does not grasp or take. Love is a gift of beauty from God. It is a beautiful rose that unless connected to God, cannot grow, cannot blossom, but rather dries up. When you reach to pick that rose, two things can happen. Either you miss the love altogether and end up being hurt by the thorns of lust, or you do get your hand on the love, but your lust detaches it from God, and its life and beauty is taken out of it. This is so important for courtship. Each person is a rose. He or she can be admired and loved, but if one goes to pick it to take home, if one tries to possess the other as an object, then the thorns will prick and the love will wither.

"Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, but not into the hands of men; for as His majesty is, so also is His mercy." --Sirach 2:18

Consider the Lord's majesty. Consider His power to heal the sick, to part oceans, to place His infinity in the finite bread of the Eucharist. Consider the grandeur of the mountain peaks, the vastness of the oceans, the beautiful delicacy of a tiny flower. Consider the power of nature, of storms, consider the extravagance of the sun's rays glittering on creation. His majesty is infinitely above all of this! Sirach tells us that His mercy is as great as His majesty. His forgiveness and love is vast like the oceans and gives light and warmth after the rains like the sun; except so much more! Trust in the Lord, and let yourself fall into His hands. This is not a trust that believes we will never be hurt, but rather that He is so much greater than pain. He can and will heal us from all our wounds, He can and will fashion beauty from brokenness--every time, always, for eternity.

"Woe to the faint heart, for it has no trust! Therefore it will not be sheltered." --Sirach 2:13

The faint heart cowers before evil. It trembles as it witnesses the darkness of the world, and dares not let its light shine out. Shame on it! Where is your trust, O heart? Trust in the resurrection, the joy of the Lord! For He who is light has come to banish all darkness; He who is Good has conquered evil! You will be given the deepest darkness that His light might shine brighter for you; you will not be kept from evil that you might come to understand what is good! Your trials are to strengthen you, to strengthen your resolve in the Lord. The Resurrection has made all realms tremble, let you tremble no more! Be steadfast in God, trust in Him who is eternally Trustworthy, that you may rest in peace and be a beacon of light.

"Accept whatever is brought upon you, and in changes that humble you be patient...

...For gold is tested in fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation." --Sirach 2:4-5

Ah, what a blessing is humiliation! It is the gift that fells pride, that vice from which all others come. The only road to humility is through humiliation-- with gratefulness should we bear this cross! Grateful that God should think us worthy to keep us from the sin of satan, that He should think us worthy to share in His own crown of thorns! With confidence we turn to Him in these moments, supreme confidence in our own smallness and His incomprehensible greatness!

Faith and steadfastness in God will bring about infinite changes in your life. Be not afraid! Do not cower before the trials, do not shrink from the challenge of becoming your true self! Embrace these changes, become who He created you to be, that He may know you in eternal life!

"To fear the Lord is wisdom's full measure; she intoxicates men with her fruits" --Sirach 1:16

What does it mean to fear the Lord? "The fear of the Lord is glory and exultation, and gladness and a crown of rejoicing. The fear of the Lord delights the heart, and gives gladness and joy and long life" --Sirach 1:11-12. Fear is that which is instilled in the heart by understanding the infinite majesty of the Lord. It is a feeling of being awe-filled rather than awful. This understanding recognizes the glory of God, the glory of man made in His image. It exults in being humbled, is full of gladness at the mercy of the Lord, partakes in a crown of rejoicing for our salvation! The heart delights in having its deepest desire fulfilled, and overflows with gladness and joy as it journeys to eternal life!

This is wisdom's full measure, that we should know God! The fruits of this? An overflowing of virtue and love, most of all a purity of heart that achieves the overwhelming peace and joy of the interior gaze. Knowing God means knowing Love!!! Nothing could be more intoxicating than His divine, pure love!!! In it we are cleansed, we are healed, we are delighted in; we give of ourselves completely to Him in response to His love, and become more like Him, we are transformed into our true selves! We become truly free, truly fulfilled! "Look to Him, and be radiant"-- Psalm 34:5.

Anything less than pure love is not a fruit of wisdom, and is not God-fearing. It is addictive, not intoxicating. It will only increase desire that can never be fulfilled, and turn the infinite mystery of a person into something that is finite, boring and discardable. We must lay hold of wisdom, that we may enjoy her fruits! We must know God, that we might know an eternal exchange of Love that lifts and captivates! May we all come to fear the Lord, to know the Trinity, to understand our gift of sexuality, that we may be intoxicated by the fruits of wisdom!

Joyful Spirit

Recently, as I began to pray the Joyful Mysteries, I was struck by the joy of the Holy Spirit in these mysteries. Usually it is the joy of Mary, or us, His people, that I am meditating on, or the fact that each joyful mystery required pain or suffering of some sort. But the Holy Spirit, the spouse of Mary and father of our Lord-- the joy He must have had in each mystery!!

The Annunciation--what man is not ecstatic when his love accepts his proposal? And here is the Holy Spirit, God, whose proposal to His most perfect creature, has accepted His proposal and He incarnates His Son in her womb. His plan for the salvation of all of His people, His plan to unite us all with Him, has not been thwarted, but lovingly and trustingly accepted! Oh, the joy that the Holy Spirit must have experienced!

The Visitation--here we see the Holy Spirit sharing with Elizabeth and her son John of His own joy, that the Savior of the world is come! His joy is so infectious that it causes John to leap in his mother's womb!

The Birth of Our Lord--As Mary labors to bring His Son to the world, the Holy Spirit is close beside her, and already aligning the stars--literally!--to announce His joy and pride to the world! He shines a gloriously bright star over Bethlehem, He calls to the shepherds with His Good News, He calls to the Magi--His joy is spread far and wide!

The Presentation in the Temple--Again the Holy Spirit, the proud father rejoicing in salvation brought to the descendants of Adam, shares His joyful knowledge with others. He gives Simeon the gift of the knowledge of the babe Messiah, He shares the message with Anna; He shares with such joy the glory of His Son!

The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple--Here the Holy Spirit has spoken through His Son, teaching the elders of Himself and the Father. He rejoices in teaching His Son, in bringing Him before others and sharing with the World her salvation!