Requiem for my budgie

RIP Blueberry Budgie

Blueberry wasn't really my pet:  he was Bertie's companion.  My budgie was very needy, he always wanted my attention. Budgies are flock animals. So, I decided to let him have a pet.  He amd Blueberry were inseparable from the start.

Bertie & Berry

YouTube playlist:  BERTIE AND BERRY  

I took a lot of vids of the 2 of them. They enjoyed watching themselves on their TV (my fire tablet).

I'm very sad.  

When Berry was dying, Bertie hovered by him. I'm not sure if he realizes yet that his friend is gone.  He is flitting about and happy chirping, so if he does it doesn't seem to bother him much...yet.
 

Goodbye, little Blueberry.  

Precepts vs Restrictions

 

Hung on the gibbet built for Mordecai

 

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men.
You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.  ~ Matthew 23

This has always been one of my favorite Gospels as it calls to task those times when we make membership in Mother Church a more onerous task than it is. Often condition upon condition are piled up when there are no such barriers keeping the little ones from the Christ.

Once baptized, we need only meet the Precepts of the Church:

More than this, folks are just making stuff up and being a stumbling block.

Pride & Discernment

May you learn from us not to go beyond what is set down, so that none of you will grow self-important by reason of his association with one person rather than another. Who confers any distinction on you? Name something you have that you have not received. If, then, you have received it, why are you boasting as if it were your own? ~Corinthians 4

Yes, Almighty God has just showered me too with gifts and often I stumble by being arrogant rather than humble, boasting rather than keeping silence. I have, though, learned to pay more attention to those listening to me: to say what they need to hear rather than just what I want to say.  In that way, I have learned so much more about my brethren in Christ as they respond in kind. (I never knew that she also hailed from the Chicago South Suburbs! Wonderful!)

How then account for the fact that these men, who in Christ’s lifetime did not stand up to the attacks by the Jews, set forth to do battle with the whole world once Christ was dead—if, as you claim, Christ did not rise and speak to them and rouse their courage? ~ St. John Chrysostom

Fr. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor would take issue with the claim that the disciples from Galilee were backward, illiterate men.  That they lacked the courage to stand with Jesus at His Passion cannot be denied. Even after His Resurrection, they cowered until they were filled at Pentecost by the Holy Spirit. Then, there was no stopping them.

So I must learn to follow their example. Be slow to speak until the Spirit gives you the right words for that time, for that place, and to those with whom you speak.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Bartholomew, called Nathaniel in John's Gospel.

My older child Stephen Joseph, chose Batholomew as his confirmation name; his best friend in high school, also a Stephen Joseph, chose Nathaniel.  So, I used to refer to them as (Stephen Joseph) squared, lol. My younger one chose Vincent, "for the poor" she said, and also to honor our Naples bobczka Vincenta.

Today as I often do, I stopped on a corner of our church after communion to pray for my children.  Phillip, who also fed the poor, is there with Bartholomew who he brought to meet the Christ.  May my kids both some day, I pray, open the gifts they have received that now lie unopened and dusty on the shelf in their closets!

Wisdom from St. Ambrose

Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord,  

Who carry out plans that are not mine, 

who weave webs that are not inspired by me, 

adding sin upon sin. ~ Isaiah 30:1ff

Yeah, Isaiah, that pretty much sums it up.  Let the Lord drive! 

I was born on the Feast of St. Ambrose and am, like Monica, a widow praying for her children. So, I am always especially attentive when he speaks in our daily reading. Today, he discusses Psalm 49:7 and addresses our need for redemption.

We rarely hear the word "redeem" in every day discourse, unless redeeming a coupon for some good. I guess that analogy fits:  we ourselves are just a promise of something more, and we are set free by the Christ to fulfill God's purpose in us:

...He alone will redeem man, showing love greater even than that of brothers. He poured out his blood for strangers, as no one is able to do for a brother. He did not spare his own body in redeeming us from sin, but gave himself as the redemption of all...

 O Lord, grant that I may always give thanks for our redemption and be obedient - not rebellious - to Your plans for me through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Hail Holy Queen

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

ANNUNCIATION ~ Ave Maria Oratorio

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, 
poor banished children of Eve.
To thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this our exile
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving,
O sweet Virgin Mary.

OUR LADY OF MERCY
St John the Evangelist Church, Naples, FL

Communion of Saints

" Dear brothers and sisters, so it is that day after day the Church offers us the possibility of walking in the company of Saints. Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote that the Saints constitute the most important message of the Gospel, its actualization in daily life, and therefore represent for us a real means of access to Jesus. The French writer Jean Guitton described them "as the colours of the spectrum in relation to light", because with their own tones and accentuations each one of them reflects the light of God's holiness. How important and useful, therefore, is the commitment to cultivate knowledge of and devotion to the Saints, alongside daily meditation on the Word of God and filial love for Our Lady! " ~ Pope Benedict, Audience, 20 Aug 2008 https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080820.html

O how I loved our "Papa Benny"!!!  He was a scholar of exceedingly great gifts, yet his demeanor was an icon of gentleness.

As Cardinal Ratzinger, this kindly, gentle scholar was under the authority of his Pope and so cannot be held responsible for forbearance against the pedophiliacs as often charged. On becoming our leader, we all sighed with relief as he finally began to address the issue. Most of the worst offenders were silenced and moved to positions where they could no longer prey on the innocent.  The financial antics of those running the Vatican Bank also ceased.

As a teacher, few have attained his heights.  His writings inspire me very much. Of his encyclicals, my favorite is that on Christian hope, Spe Salvi.

While I grieved upon his resignation, I applaud his humility in recognizing that the problems before Mother Church were best fought by another.  In his retirement, this Papa was ever prudent, supportive, and helpful ... 

...At the end of his Pastoral Rule, Saint Gregory the Great urged a friend to offer him this spiritual accompaniment: “Amid the shipwreck of the present life, sustain me, I beseech you, by the plank of your prayer, that, since my own weight sinks me down, the hand of your merit will raise me up”. Here we see the awareness of a pastor who cannot carry alone what in truth he could never carry alone, and can thus commend himself to the prayers and the care of the people entrusted to him...           ~ words of Pope Francis' Funeral Homily.

May he rest in peace. Funeral mass of Pope Benedict

+++++++++

My Sicilian grandmother, mother of my mother, was named "Santina" i.e. the little saint. By this name, she had as patrons the full Communion of Saints from Mother Mary our Queen to the lowliest whose names are known only to Almighy God.  As I am named for my grandmother, I claim them, too.

 

Spiritual Warfare & My Sins in Waging Same

 From today's 2nd reading, by Pope Gregory the Great:

...for with wisdom they teach the wayward while showing a courageous contempt for outward hostility; the straying sheep they set on the right path by their teaching; the attacker they suffer and overcome. For they have nothing but patient scorn for the enemy who moves against them, but they sympathize with their weaker fellows and bring them back to the safe way, opposing the former lest they lead others astray and fearing for the latter lest they completely lose sight of the truly upright life...

For many years now, I have been preoccupied by sins of the tongue, especially my own. But I now find them most painful when I witness them in otherwise good people.  Each election year, such reach a fever pitch as my brethren divide themselves as if an election were a football game rather than a deadly serious choice of matching a job to who best can perform it.

My greatest sin was once scandal, a common one among the intellectually gifted.  The Lord has gifted me with a high IQ, excellent teachers, and a very broad knowledge base. Often instead of properly using His gifts, shocked those to whom I spoke. This is tied to another, that of sharing truth with a weaker person who is not prepared to receive it.  As we read in the Catechism

2488 The right to the communication of the truth is not unconditional. Everyone must conform his life to the Gospel precept of fraternal love. This requires us in concrete situations to judge whether or not it is appropriate to reveal the truth to someone who asks for it.

Just because something is true does not mean that it should be publicly shared.  I thank God for schooling me and that I have learned when it may be best to be silent.

Now, I have been working on finding balance between sins of pride and acceptance of my gifts simply and without boasting.  I also seek to learn gentleness and humility as neither comes to me naturally.  Rather, others find me brash and overly aggressive.

My help has been reading the letters of "St. Jeannie" aka St. Jane Francis de Chantal, foundress with St. Francis de Sales of the Visitation Order. She has been trying to get my attention for years, but I didn't know why. As a widow, she is one of my patrons but my intuition was that there was more, and there is. The Discernment Guide from the Order was very helpful in contemplating meekness and humility in demeanor.

Closing prayer of the Jewish Amidah (the 18 blessings):

My God, keep my tongue and my lips from speaking deceit, and to them that curse me let my soul be silent, and like dust to all. Open my heart in Your Torah, and after [in] Thy commandments let me [my soul] pursue. As for those that think evil of [against] me speedily thwart their counsel and destroy their plots. Do [this] for Thy name's sake, do this for Thy right hand's sake, do this for the sake of Thy holiness, do this for the sake of Thy Torah. That Thy beloved ones may rejoice, let Thy right hand bring on help [salvation] and answer me…