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| IMPOSTURE Definition: act or an instance of deceiving others, especially by assuming a false identity Similar: pretense, deceit, deception, hoax, trick, ruse, fraud, trickery, artifice, false |
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| Expulsion of Adam and Eve by Benjamin West circa 1800 |
I've mentioned before that Larry and I are studying Bishop Schneider's Credo, the Compendium of the Faith for Lent. The other evening we came across a teaching that was one of those difficult ones. It was in Part 1, Chapter 6 #224-226:
#224 -- Is the dignity of the human person rooted in his creation in God's image and likeness?
This was true for Adam, but with original sin the human person lost this resemblance and dignity in the eyes of God. He recovers this dignity through baptism, and keeps it as long as he does not sin mortally.
Prayer and study are an important element of the Catholic life, especially during the season of Lent when we are invited to grow closer to the Lord. Since "ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ" obviously it's important to read the Bible. I usually focus on the four passion narratives during Lent and always read Pierre Barbet's meditation from Doctor at Calvary on Good Friday. You can read it free online.
I've been re-reading Owen Francis Dudley's series on the Masterful Monk which is recommended by Fr. John Hardon in his Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan. Dudley was an Anglican priest who converted to the Catholic Church in 1915 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1917. Like Anselm Thornton, who became the Masterful Monk of the series, but was a doctor, he served in the British Army (as a chaplain) during World War I and, again like Thornton, was wounded. Owen Francis Dudley
Dudley's series addresses the problem of human happiness. It explores the meaning of suffering and exposes the moral quandary after the war when many rejected the belief that a good God could allow the horrors of trench warfare, poisoned gas, etc. that marked that horrible waste of human life.
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| Meet Fifi LaFoo! |
Almsgiving is taking on a different look too. Mother Teresa used to talk about the loneliness of many souls and their need for love. I've mentioned my sister, Jeanne, before who is in deteriorating health in a nursing home in Frederick, MD. It's a round trip of over three hours to travel from the Valley for a visit. And I confess, I'm not one of those folks who loves to hop in the car and take a drive. Nevertheless, my husband and I have embraced that trip for Lent increasing our visits from about once a month to once a week instead. We pray several rosaries which makes the trip fulfill all three Lenten practices. It's not an easy visit since my sister is depressed and often hostile and angry. It shows in her treatment of both family and staff. And I confess that I have often let Jeanne's mood and ill treatment infect me with resentment and impatience. Mea culpa. That's when I need to remember that feelings need to be under the control of the intellect and the will, something with which I've struggled all my life.
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| Woodstock, VA historic courthouse |
Does it make you angry to see the evil global elitists doing everything they can to destroy not only our country, but all the sovereign nations of the world? Love of your homeland is a virtue. According to St. Thomas Aquinas it is man's nature to be a “civic and social animal.” (ST, I-II, 72.4) Society begins in the family, the basic building block of every community. If the family is moral and strong, a nation will be moral and strong. That's why communist philosophy always strikes at the family. Orwell showed that masterfully in 1984 where children were encouraged to spy on their parents and report them for violations against Big Brother.
We would all do well to imitate the calm demeanor and calm questioning of this professor. He is obviously a student of Socratic and his method. Kudos to him and what a blessing that he is so young. It gives me hope for the future. There are actually some sensible teachers out there.
This is utterly brilliant. A student accuses @jk_rowling of being transphobic. This teacher skilfully dissects the claim and challenges it by asking questions.
— Lee Harris (@addicted2newz) February 3, 2024
He teaches not what to think, but how to think critically.
Watch until the end.
You see the epiphany in real-time. pic.twitter.com/x00gWdOugc
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| Don't worry, your holiness, no one will notice the spoonful of poison in the document. I was careful. |
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| Happy Happy Church! (Trains in the Sky) |
Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton was a British author made famous in the modern era from the Peanuts cartoon character, Snoopy, and his eternal quest to write a book beginning with Bulwer-Lytton’s classic opening, “It was a dark and stormy night.”
"The sardonic Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, held annually since 1982, claims to seek the opening sentence of the worst of all possible novels - that is, one which is deliberately bad."
Below are a few bad first sentences from books in the religion category.
PAPAL AUDIENCE SERIES: "Planes and Trains and Acrobats" - Riding his magic carpet made of steel across the Vatican sky over St Peter's (because he no longer trusted Boeing 747's Shepherd One) the pope, in his best Arlo Guthrie impersonation, sang, "Good morning, TLM Catholics, how are ya?" then in a sinister voice said, "Have you not heard the news that before the day is done, one more feckless rigid doctrine will have faded like a bad dream into the disappearing Catholic Church?" but suddenly his train fell from the sky crashing into Santa Marta where the numerous scantily-clad Vatican acrobats were housed.
Have you ever heard the expression, "You are what you eat?" That may be true physically, but there's a more important reality about man than his physical body -- his soul. And I think a more real expression is, "You are what you read."
I love spending time with my grandkids. Two of the local grandsons decided awhile back that they want to do "cooking day" with Grandma every week. So for the past month or so we meet weekly to learn cooking skills and enjoy the results. One of the big benefits is that it gets them away from the computer games. They bring their Ipads to do math tutoring with their grandfather (They're home schooled), but that's it. Bike riding, board and card games, and cooking are the fun for the day. They are becoming quite the little chefs.
...to take down the Christmas tree. I feel like singing this song skipping the part about times of being sad. Not a single one of those -- except a little nostalgia over the past remembering friends and family who are gone now. So many wonderful Christmases from my childhood going out with Daddy on Christmas eve to buy the tree and coming home to decorate it. Going to Midnight Mass with my family and coming home to open our stockings before we went to bed. Getting up on Christmas morning to the profusion of packages. (Gifts for parents and ten children make quite a pile!)
We're in a mess and the bishops don't seem too eager to help get us out of it. Where are the U.S. bishops? Why isn't a single bishop on this list?
Priests and scholars call for withdrawal of Fiducia Supplicans.
For Lent, Larry and I are reading Bishop Schneider's Credo: Compendium of the Catholic Faith. Since Septuagesima Sunday is the beginning of Lenten preparation, we began last Sunday with the Preface, Introduction, and the beginning of Part I on Faith. Today we were discussing some of the questions and one presented a bit of a challenge. Part 1 #8 asks, "What are the truths of the natural order?" The answer: "Truths that human reason can discover and demonstrate without the help of 'grace, e.g., the existence of God, His providence, and the immortality of the soul."
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