Cardinal Ouellet, St.Francis,Vatican II and relativism

When I was reviewing boagraphies of the list of cardinals before the election of our new Pope Francis, I came across an article that really struck me.  Cardinal Marc Ouellet speaking of interpretations of Vatican II talks about how we replaced mission with dialogue.  This seems true in that we are eager to be friends with and talk to  people of others faiths and Catholics with dissenting views but we have lost our mission to convert them. Since I am a Secular Franciscan I would like to point to St Francis of Assisi. Although not his major charism like the Dominicans, St.Francis preached in villages with the hope of converting people. Also, at that time there were heresies that the body was evil. St.Francis combated that as he looked at all of the things created by God as his "brother" or "sister." Even in the first part of our OFS rule St.Francis preaches to us about the importance of penance(http://www.nafra-sfo.org/sforule.html.)  He didnt stop there. His main preaching was to people already in the Church who werent living like they should(some Church members were at times being greedy.) My Franciscan confessor once told me St.Dominic preached to people outside the Church, while St.Francis preached to people inside the Church.  Yes peacefull dialogue is important as well but it should be attatched to the mission of conversion. Otherwise we see the spread of the dangerous relativism.Vatican II did not change long held beliefs and rules long passed on from Scripture and Tradition throughout the life of the Church. I read in a book on Catholic History that Vatican II didnt change things as far as morality, but instead tried to explain things a different way. Here is the article from wikipedia on Cardinal Ouellet.

Interpretations of the Second Vatican Council :
Ouellet believes that many Catholics interpreted the teachings of the Second Vatican Council in far too liberal a way and by doing so disconnected from the core of their faith. Relativism led to priests abandoning celibacy, a drop in proper religious education, and a general infusion of leftist politics – all of which was not the intention of the council. Ouellet stated: “After the council, the sense of mission was replaced by the idea of dialogue. That we should dialogue with other faiths and not attempt to bring them the Gospels, to convert. Since then, relativism has been developing more broadly.”[14]


Cardinal Ouellet article where we he states we lost a sense of mission.
http://life.nationalpost.com/2010/08/19/canadian-cardinal-to-set-tone-for-church/


Cardinal Ouellet on the blessings of Vatican II
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/cardinal-ouellet-let-us-rejoice-at-fruitfulness-of-vatican-ii

Marxist "Liberation Theology" in America

One of the things I read concerning our new Pope Francis is that he is critical of "liberation theology."  Liberation Theology puts the service of the poor and vulnerable to such a degree that it disregards Jesus mission to save our souls from sin and evil. It does not follow the laws of wisdom where everything has an order. This "liberation theology" has many negative aspects and is marxist for many reasons, one because it puts all its emphasis on material welfare.  After reading what liberation theology is I could not help but to see it in our own American culture and given its fuel by government and media.  How many times have we been encouraged to help the poor(and some who are really not truly poor), yet allowing abortion and same-sex marriage and other immoral things is not only allowed but promoted. Liberation theology is making Jesus into a political savior. To quote a section from the link below speaking of  Benedict XVI -  "The Pope warned that the “more or less visible” scars of Marxist liberation theology, such as “rebellion, division, dissent, offenses, anarchy, are still being felt, causing great suffering and a grave loss of dynamic strength in your diocesan communities.” Rebellion, Division, Dissent....its happening quite often now days.

Benedict XVI cautions against liberation theology -
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/benedict_xvi_cautions_against_dangers_of_marxist_liberation_theology/

Catholics talk on a message board - Les Misarables rebukes liberation theology
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=757222&highlight=liberation+theology

Catholics discuss what is wrong with liberation theology.
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=691197&highlight=liberation+theology

Congregation of Doctrine of Faith on liberation theology
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19840806_theology-liberation_en.html

Culture and Secularism

It seems like alot of secularism and materialism has crept into our American society. Here is a section from the SFO monthy ongoing formation project, the Monthy Dossier August edition. The section that I am pulling out is about our service in culture and hits home on some of the problems that we face in our culture today. The Church and state would do well to work together but rather in todays culture we are seeing alot of intentional ways to leave God out of the public and the schools. Although the paraphraph is about some of the challenges to the develpment of Christian culture it can go hand in hand with secularism as well.

Culture must represent a privileged area for the presence and commitment of the Church and individual Christians. The Second Vatican Council sees the separation of Christian faith and daily life as one of the most serious erros of our day (Guadium et Spes,43). Without a metaphysical perspective, the loss of a longing for God in self-serving narcissism and the varied means found in a consumeristic lifestyle; the primacy given to technology and scientific research as ends in themselves; the emphasis placed on appearance, the quest for an image, commmunication techniques; all of these phenomena must be understood in their cultural aspects and placed in relation to the central issue of the human person, of integral human growth, of the human capacity to communicate and relate with other people, and of the constant human search for an answer to the great questions that run throughout life. It must be kept in mind that "culture is that through which man, as man becomes more man, 'is' more, has more access to 'being'" [John Paul II address to UNESCO (2Junde 1980)].

Vainglory and Pride

St.Padre Pio says that vainglory is a tough sin to overcome because there is no opposite virtue that can defeat it because there is no opposite virtue for it. Vainglory can be found in the religious because it feeds on the more good works you do and how excellent you are for doing it. Simpleness and humilty may be the best response but even humility can be done with vainglory. Below is a very good link writen by St.John Climacus on vainglory, pride and more.

http://www.catholicapologetics.info/catholicteaching/vice/vainglory.htm

Balance in our lives by Thomas Stobie SFO

Here is a good meditation about balancing our lives by Thomas Stobie, SFO. This writing for some is easier said than done. No matter what part of our lives whether it be work, play, or prayer is inseparable from God and God's presence. I find true that if our leisure, work, or prayer is overdone and out of balance (but especially with work and our work driven society) we start to become angry, irratable and uncharitable. Pray that we have the prudence and temperance so that we may joyfully live our lives in balance and in God's presence.



Meditation on Living our Lives in Balance


We are all called to live our lives in a balance of work, relaxation, and prayer. Our work can be to support ourselves, raise our children, take care of our physical body, learn new skills, care for our loved ones, or serve others. Our relaxation varies significantly and is necessary for our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. Whereas we are called to lived our lives constantly in prayer, it is useful to devote special times for dedicated prayer and meditation and this is good for our spiritual well-beings. Within an area, a balance is also needed, so that a particular item does not became stale or boring, and so that we can live to the fullness of our humanity, letting all aspects of ourselves grow and prosper.


We need to avoid overdoing things. About they only thing we can not overdo is loving God and our neighbor. Everything else we can overdo and spend too much on it to our and our families' harm. We must come to realize what is sufficient in our work without the endless pursuit of perfection. Striving for perfection is not a bad thing, unless we overdo the effect and end up hurting ourselves and those around us.


In loving God and in loving our neighbor, we can always love more, but at times loving our neighbor and God means taking care of ourselves, getting the rest and relaxation that we require and satisfying our spiritual needs.


In our works, we need to strive for a balance among our different works. We can find more works to do than we have time for and if we apply ourselves on one particular work doing the same thing for extended periods of time, we can find the quality of work decreasing. We to mix our works so that they allow different aspects ourselves to get involve and provide a variety (freshness) to the things we do.


Depending on our work, our needs for relaxation will vary. Balancing the different areas for relaxation helps us to restore our energies in a healthy manner, physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually.


We can overdo dedicated prayer causing us to neglect or poorly perform our works and not get enough rest to rejuvenate ourselves. We all pray on how much dedicated prayer and mediation that God wants us to perform and to follow the guidance we receive, periodically checking to see if the amount needs to be changed. One factor to consider in dedicated prayer and mediation is to prayerfully examine what benefits are you receiving from it. It is important to note that some benefits of prayer are not seen by the individual and that during periods of spiritual dryness you may not observe any benefits from prayer.


There are times in our lives where we find ourselves out of balance. Some of those times it is possible to change and regain the balance in our lives. At other times, our responsibilities and limitations might force us to live more out of balance then we would like. We need to recognize what we can affect and what cannot. Striving to change what we have no control over causes much stress and pushes us further out of balance.


The exact balance for each person will vary by person and needs to be prayed upon and explored by each person to determine what is appropriate for them.




Prayer for Balance in our Lives



O Harmonious God, who in perfect Unity of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, love us infinitely,


We thank You for all the help You have given us in living our lives in balance, those people You have put in our lives who helps us maintain our balance, and for being with us in our work, relaxation, and prayer.


We ask you to show us the proper balance in our lives and in each area of our lives, to keep us from overdoing anything, and properly care of ourselves and those for whom we are responsible.


We ask you to guide us in our work, that our work may be the best we can do without overdoing it, and reflect well on Your glory. We ask You to help us balance our works that we will find them invigorating and meaningful.


We ask you to guide us in our rest and relaxation, that our rest and relaxation may keep healthy in mind and body and that our rest and relaxation may always be oriented towards You and Your will.


We ask you to guide us in our prayer, that our prayer may satisfy our spiritual needs and be fulfilling. We ask you to help select the forms of prayer and meditation that we need when we need it and allow ourselves to change forms when we need to.


We also ask you to help those around us live in a healthy balance as well.


Amen.

The gift of counsel and the Virgin Mary

I took this from St.Bonaventures writing on counsel which is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Counsel is the gift that destroys avarice and introduces mercy. I hope all have a Christ centered Christmas and and Blessed new year!

"3. The price of anyone is the glorious Virgin, and why? Because She brought forth, payed off and posseses our price for the world. A certain converso [conversus] was in the religion of the Cistercians [monachorum alborum]; he had a good will towards the glorious Virgin, every day he recited [persolvit] for Her a psalter of one hundred and fifty Ave Maria's; but he was stiff necked [durae cervicis]. On a certain day he became infirm and was carried to the abbey of the grange. On a certain night, when all were at Matins, he alone remained in the infirmary; and it seemed to him, that certain ones were carrying him into the greatest fore-court [aulam], in which he saw Christ and the Apostles and the assemblage [coetum] of the angels; and demons presented him to Christ. And he who was carrying him, said: "Thou art a just judge; that one is ours". The Blessed Virgin said: "He is Mine, because he served Me". A grave dispute broke out [facta est]. The enemy said: "Thou art a just judge, a non-acceptor of persons; I want, that you judge according to the truth". And Christ said: "Let us see whose he is". And all his defects written on the paper were place on one side of the balance, and on the other side of the balance were placed the good things, which he had done. And the side, in which his defects were, was bent down to the earth. And then the enemy said: "See, Lord, that that one is ours: I ask for justice". And then the Blessed Virgin said to Christ: "Thou art My Son; the blood, which Thou doest have, Thou hast from Me; I ask that Thou give Me one drop". And Christ said: "I cannot deny this to You". And then the Blessed Virgin placed the drop of Blood together with his merits; and immediately that side of the balance bend down to the earth. And the enemy said: "It is not good to fight with Thee". Nevertheless, because the Lord did not want to let the evil, which he had done, go unpunished; He gave the demons power over his body; and then they beat him most atrociously, so that there scarcely remained in him any member, which was not entirely beaten. And the Judge said: "It is sufficient". When the brothers returned from Matins, they found him as if dead. The abbot questioned and caused it to be inquired, who did this. No one was found, who knew anything concerning this. Afterwards he spoke and asked his abbot and confessed to him; and assumed by noble compunction, he migrated to the Lord, and that was his punishment in place of [pro] purgatory."

Luminous Rosary Meditations

Today is me and my wife's 4th anniversay. I am such a blessed man to have such a wonderfull person in my life for 14 years. Yes, I have known my wife since I was 16 and stayed friends with her through the years. When I was praying the Rosary today I decided to meditate on the luminious mysteries in light of marriage. This is what I asked our Blessed Mother for while praying the five mysteries.

Wedding at Cana - I meditated on Jesus miracle at Cana and prayed to Mary that we as a married couple continue to give each other our selves and to do the little miracles of every day married life.

Jesus Baptism - I meditated Jesus baptism and our children and prayed that Mary intercede for us that we continue to raise our children devoutly in the faith.

Proclamation of the Kingdom - I meditated on Jesus proclaiming the kingdom and prayed to Mary that we as a married couple and family continue to evangelize to others by word and example.

Transfiguration - I meditated on Jesus transfiguration and that our love as a married couple last forever into eternity and heaven.

Institution of the Eucharist - I prayed to Mary that we continue to grow as a family through the Eucharist.