Today, July 16, the Church celebrates the Memorial Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
From Blessings of the Daily: A Monastic Book of Days by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette:
"Though only a memorial on the calendar, it is Our Lady's only feast in July. In addition, it is a solemn feast for the Carmelite family, who honors Mary today as their special patroness. The origins of the order goes back to the twelfth century, to Mount Carmel in Palestine, where Our Lady and the prophet Elias inspired the lifestyle of their first hermits. These hermits, following Mary's example, applied themselves to the cultivation of inner prayer and contemplation. She was their model, their protector, and their mother. Later on, when she appeared to Saint Simon Stock, she promised her special blessing to all those who would wear the habit of the order. It is not surprising, therefore, that an order singularly blessed by Our Lady has rendered great fruits of holiness throughout the centuries. One has only to think of the great Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Therese of Lisieux, or Edith Stein.
Saint Stephen Stock receiving the Brown Scapular
Today, we rejoice greatly, Gaudens gaudebo, in honoring the memory of the Mother of God. Her white mantle covers all of her children, in every generation, and this includes both saints and sinners. As we move forward with life's destination, we entrust ourselves to her intercession. No matter how many times we may have sinned or fallen along the way, she, who is Refuge of Sinners, is there to assist and sustain us. We pray: 'Holy Mother of God, Queen and Beauty of Carmel, we rejoice today in your presence. Shelter us always under your mantle and save us from the power of evil. Amen.'"
A California University official demanded that a student worker remove a cross necklace because the Christian symbol is "offensive." Full story from Fox News.
An Episcopal Church in New York City regularly hosts a "Gay Pride Disco Mass." Even for the hip left wing anything goes Episcopal Church ain't that taking it a little too far . . . Read about it here.
The latest story in the continuing saga of the impending fall of Western Civilization. Read about it here.
Professor Norman F. Cantor (1929-2004) was a historian who specialized in medieval history. He is best known for his introductory textbook on the middle ages and a large number of works of popular history.
Imagining The Law: Common Law and the Foundations of the American Legal System (1997) is a tour de force on the English Common Law background of the modern American Legal System. In fact, Cantor says that it would only take a few law school classes to get an Elizabethan barrister up to speed enough to be at home in a courtroom in late 20th century America. As the Kirkus Review said when the book first came out :"(Cantor) persuasively argues that common law's roots are so deeply embedded in our culture that even a new Ice Age might not kill them.".
For me, the most fascinating part of the book was the description of how the English Common Law was pretty much cobbled together out of necessity and expedience. For instance, the Roman Civil Law System required a veritable army of full time trained judges. The medieval kings of England desired to render justice on the cheap. Just like many rural jurisdictions in the U.S. today still have a large number of part time judges for the same reason, medieval England relied on local gentry to serve without pay as Justices of the Peace and relied upon a system of a small number of professional judges riding circuit. Cantor details how no King or parliament actually created the jury of verdict, it just sort of rose up on its' own out of practice. Originally jurymen would be members of the community who knew something about the dispute and he parties and could advise the royal justices as to who should prevail in a lawsuit. Over time this developed into the jury of verdict.
Written in a conversational style, Imagining the Law is a very informative and entertaining read for anyone interested in legal history. Long out of print, this book is still worth a look.
Russell Shaw is very afraid for what the future has in store for the American Catholic Church. In American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America (Ignatius Press, 2013), Shaw analyses the assimilation of immigrant Catholics into the American mainstream and the disaster that accommodation with the secular culture has become.
Originally titled The Gibbons Legacy the book tracks the career of Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore who promoted Catholic assimilation in the late 19th and early 20th century. The process of "Americanizing" the immigrant church has worked so well that except for a small percentage of devout persons, the behavior of most American Catholics is indistinguishable from the larger culture. With the culture becoming militantly secular, those who hold to the teachings of the Church can expect to be marginalized at best and punished at worst.
Shaw is calling for a new Catholic subculture which will resist the inroads of the larger culture. This is a good book which should be widely read. (Review from National Catholic Register here. Review from First Things here.). Pax.
The Department of Defense says that it will begin to court martial and punish service members (including chaplains!) who share their faith with other service members. Read the full story here.
On a literal and historical level, this "Royal Psalm" sings of the earthly power of ancient Jewish Kings and was probably composed to be sung during a coronation ceremony. On a spiritual level, the Church has always interpreted this Psalm as referring to Jesus the Messiah.
"Why are the nations in an uproar? Why do the peoples mutter empty threats?" Psalm 2:1 (1979 BCP). In this fallen world there is always going to be saber rattling. Nations are perpetually threatening war on each other. Today it is North Korea and Iran, tomorrow it will be others. There will never truly be peace until Our Lord returns. Jesus said that we must expect there to be "wars and rumors of wars," until the end of time. But God considers the threats of earthly rulers to be empty and from the viewpoint of eternity human conflicts mean little.
The King James Version translates this verse as "Why do the heathen rage , and the people imagine a vain thing?". The "raging heathen" brings to my mind images of people like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Madeline Murray O'Hare who deny existence of God and are angry that anybody else does.
"Why do the kings of the earth rise up in revolt, and the princes plot together, against the LORD and against his Anointed? Let us break their yoke ," they say; " let us cast off their bonds from us.". (Psalm 2:2-3). From a literal and historical standpoint, these verses refer to the revolt of vassals of the ancient Kings of Judah. In Hebrew the word Messiah means "the anointed one" and this was the title given to the ancient Israelite kings. In Greek "Messiah" is translated as the word Christ.
The Kingdoms of the earth have risen and continue to rise against Christ and his Church. The increasingly militantly secular government of the United States continues to enact laws and regulations in disregard of divine command. We murder our unborn children and we order everyone to pay for it. We mandate same sex marriages and command that everyone must agree with it. Although we do not have officially mandated atheism yet, that experiment has been tried many times. It seems that men must constantly try to live without God and to try to make themselves God. Some of the past "kings of the Earth" who sought to destroy the LORD's anointed include the Radicals of the French Revolution, the Nazis, and the Communists. Joseph Stalin asked with derision how many divisions the Pope had. Apparently, in the end the Pope had more divisions than the Soviet Union. Stalin's USSR is no more but Christ's Church is with us still and shall stand forever until the end of time.
"He whose throne is in heaven is laughing; the Lord has them in derision. Then he speaks to them in his wrath, and his rage fills them with terror.". (Psalm 2:4-5). God is not impressed with human beings and their pretensions. Earthly rulers may believe that they are really in charge of something. Humans in authority may really believe that they can control events. However, as Jesus told Pilate "You would have no power over me at all if it were not given to you from above." (John 19:11, New Living Translation). The power of earthly rulers is granted from above. Those who exercise civil power with no regard for divine law will, sooner or later, answer to higher authority.
"I myself have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.". (Psalm 2:6). The hill of Zion refers in a literal sense to the City of Jerusalem and more specifically the Temple Mount. On a spiritual level Zion is a metaphor for the place where God is and where we shall be together with him. I am reminded of the old Protestant hymn which goes "Children of God we are marching to Zion," and the Southern Gospel Spiritual called "The Old Ship of Zion". The King is Christ and the Holy Hill of Zion is the Church. Eventually all of the Church, the new Israel, will be gathered with the Lord in the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Let me announce the decree of the LORD; he said to me 'You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.". (Psalm 2:7). The New Testament quotes this verse as referring to Christ. (Hebrews 1:5). The Father eternally begets the Son. God has come in the flesh and become a man and he has died and risen to conquer Hell and death. Alleluia.
"Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.". (Psalm 2:8). Regardless that men believe that they are in charge of something, Christ is the true ruler. Like C.S.Lewis said, earth may now be occupied by the Devil but the true King is going to return.
"You shall crush them with an iron rod and shatter them like a piece of pottery. ' And now, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Submit to the LORD with fear, and with trembling bow before him; Lest he be angry and you perish; for his wrath is quickly kindled." (Psalm 2: 9 - 12). This imagery is used again in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 12:5; 19:15). All the works of humans will come to an end and the works of the wicked will be destroyed along with them. Those who do not turn to God for mercy will ultimately perish. We are warned that God's wrath will come upon us quickly and without warning.
"Happy are they all who take refuge in him" (Psalm 2:13). Maranatha. Amen.
I have had the honor of meeting Father Anthony Delisi, O.C.S.O. on several occasions and have had the privilege of being in a retreat led by Father Anthony. Father Anthony has been a monk of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia since 1948.
Father Anthony Delisi, O.C.S.O.
In Black Like Licorice: A Contemporary Monk’s Call to Africa (Monastery of the Holy Spirit, 2011), Father Anthony tells of his call to the priesthood and monastic life. At age 9, in the back of his family’s delivery truck for their produce business, he heard a voice telling him that he would be a priest and that he would one day go to Africa.
The title Black Like Licorice comes from an anecdote about the first time Father Anthony saw a person of African descent. He asked a neighbor why their skin was black. She replied “From eating too much licorice.” Father Anthony’s memoir is like a “Who’s Who” of great Catholics from the mid-twentieth century. He has visited the poor with Dorothy Day, went to school with scripture scholar Raymond Brown, prayed with Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and discussed the Charismatic movement with Thomas Merton.
Father Anthony is an accomplished farmer.
Father Anthony tells about his racist novice master from Texas who did not want the novices to wave at black children while they worked in the fields on the monastery farm. Father Anthony loves to grow things, especially tomatoes, and the story of how he became the primary tomato grower at the monastery is very entertaining.
Father Anthony makes fudge at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit
In the late 1970's, true to his childhood revelation, Father Anthony went on a mission to Nigeria to help found a Trappist monastery there. This was to be the first of three mission trips to Africa. Altogether, Father Anthony lived in Africa for approximately eight years. After helping to found the men’s monastery, Father Anthony returned to Nigeria and Cameroon to serve as chaplain to a foundation of Trappistine nuns.
Father Anthony’s memoirs of these years are truly fascinating. Father Anthony’s holiness and love for God and his fellow human beings shines through on every page of this wonderful book.
