In His NAME

 "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"

When we begin to pray, we do so in God's NAME. It is not under our own will and authority that we act:  rather, we do so in obedience to God and the promptings of His most Holy Spirit.  

The 2nd commandment of the decalogue treats of sins of blasphemy:

You shall not invoke the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished anyone who invokes his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

The key word here is "Invoke": blasphemy is a much broader sin than simply not swearing or using ejaculations that include sacred words. If we claim to be Christians or Catholics and to speak AS such, we must be very mindful of what we do or say. We are meant to be light to the world, and if we come in His Name we must tread with care.

The catechism states:

2148 Blasphemy is directly opposed to the second commandment. It consists in uttering against God - inwardly or outwardly - words of hatred, reproach, or defiance; in speaking ill of God; in failing in respect toward him in one's speech; in misusing God's name. St. James condemns those "who blaspheme that honorable name [of Jesus] by which you are called."78 The prohibition of blasphemy extends to language against Christ's Church, the saints, and sacred things. It is also blasphemous to make use of God's name to cover up criminal practices, to reduce peoples to servitude, to torture persons or put them to death. the misuse of God's name to commit a crime can provoke others to repudiate religion. Blasphemy is contrary to the respect due God and his holy name. It is in itself a grave sin.79

The Epistle of James cited above discusses some of these criminal acts that profane the Name of God:

Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? But you dishonored the poor person. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court? Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you? ~ Jas 2:5-7

Indeed, doing such acts is blasphemous. Our Lord Jesus Christ, though speaking the Truth, was condemned and put to death for blaspheming.

As confirmed Catholics, WE are "...he who comes in the name of the Lord..." That is what the sacraments of initiation do: they make us fit to act in God's NAME, as his little angels to other people.  Baptism births us into God's life, Eucharist infuses us into the very substance of God in every cell of our body and crevice of our spirit, and Confirmation commisions us with the authority to do His will "...on earth as it is in Heaven..."

The bouquet of 3 Virginities

white for the 1st virginity: of the infant, pure and perfect on her mother's arms

   pink for the 2nd virginity: of the bride as she first goes to the bed of her husband

       violet for the 3rd virginity: of the chaste widow, grieving yet joyful

♡

Yesterday, I was at Publix and thought that I would like fresh flowers, preferably "the violet of widows" as the saint* had said. Well, as usual, Publix wanted me to buy not one, but three.  Then I saw that in addition to the violet bunch I wanted, there were also the very same pink blooms that I carried in my bridal bouquet!

Seeing my bridal flowers reminded me of something wise that my mother said after my vows.  I had lived with my love for three years before God let me marry him. And he only became fit through the intercession of our Mother, Mary Untier of Knots. Knowing that I wasn't a virgin physically, she deliberately pulled me aside and said, "Remember that tonight as you go to your husband, you are again a virgin for you have never made love before with your spouse." At times, my mother spoke from the Holy Spirit.

So, I thought again of my current station of life and saw that the good Lord grants me yet a third virginity by my widowhood.  I am again chaste and pure, ready to meet Him now, or when He comes in His glory.

I bought 3 sprays, one for each virginity. Then I set aside two sets of each flower as gifts to two other widows in His name.  Thank You, Lord, for your many kindnesses!

* That garden of the Lord’s brothers and sisters includes, yes it includes, it certainly includes not only the roses of martyrs but also the lilies of virgins, and the ivy of married people and the violet of widows. There is absolutely no kind of human beings, dearly beloved, who need to despair of their vocation.

-Augustine, Ancient Christian Commentary, p 219

Eat This Scroll

Today's 1st reading is from the book of Ezekiel ~  

He said to me: Son of man, eat what is before you; eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat.Son of man, he then said to me, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you. I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

He said: Son of man, go now to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

☆

I just love Ezekiel! He is a prophet with the talent of painting pictures, which as a visual learner I find extremely helpful.

Image from Divine Child in the Detroit suburbs

I believe that the prophet Ezekiel may be the first to physically "eat the Word of God" in the Hebrew scriptures. In so doing, he incorporates the scroll of God into his very being and so is able to to spill it forth to those to whom he is sent.

In the book of Deuteronomy 8:3 it says:

He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna,c a food unknown to you and your ancestors, so you might know that it is not by bread alone* that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

Jesus alludes to this verse at his Temptation (see Matthew 4:4)

Often, God's gifts through Our Lord Jesus are prefigured in the Hebrew Scripture. 

Before Vatican II, our biblical scholars would study these as "types" echoed in Scripture. The old Catholic Encyclopedia from 1912 has a wonderful exposition on this fruitful means of tying together the Old and the New Covenants for those interested; there are also more moden studies which incorporate Dei Verbum and later teachings.

ADVICE ON MURMURRING

The topic of murmuring came up again this week.  I wrote a rant about it before,

( 2017 post here )  but it is a sin that comes very easily to my own lips.

Grumbling causes great harm to communites, and was a particular concern to St. Benedict. My copy of the Rule had a full appendix on the subject. 

Advice on avoiding grumbling from

https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/faith-and-character/faith-and-character/do-not-grumble-no-murmuring-and-no-complaining.html 

Give thanks to the Lord for His many blessings He has showered down on you, 

is in the moment giving to you, and will give you in the future. Think about all that 

you truly can be thankful for, and switch from thoughts of aggravation to thoughts 

of appreciation.  St. Paul gives us a tip here, as well: 

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, 

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, 

whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, 

if there is anything worthy of praise, 

think about these things." (Phil 4:8)

BY THEIR FRUITS YOU SHALL KNOW THEM

 

Matthew 7:15+

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1832 The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. the tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity."

¹¹²

SO...ask yourself when others speak to you, especially when they give you advice or counsel,

"Does this person live in the Holy Spirit?"

Anyone who strives to follow the Word of God receives GIFTS from the Holy Spirit that, when exercised, manifest to others as these FRUITS.

1. Are you always seeking fault, or loving?
2. Are you depressed, or joyful?
3. Are you aggressive, or peaceful?
4. Are you abrupt, or patient?
5. Are you cruel, or kind?
6. Do you do evil, or good?
7. Are you greedy, or generous?
8. Do you ride roughshod, or act with gentleness?
9. Are you two-faced, or faithful?
10. Do you strive to be sexy in dress and manner, or are you modest?
11. Do you yield to every impulse, or mindfully practice self-control?
12. Do you flaunt or misuse your body, or act chastely?

Each of us should always strive to use our gifts wisely.  When we do, our very being will become a light to others.

On reviving the Order of Widows

Reviving the Order of Widows
We don't need any 'permissions' from Mama Church:  She BE one
Widowhood is a STATION OF LIFE
God chooses our members

Three Virginities of Mary, Icon of the Church

virgin child who grows to be 

a young woman bursting with fertility,

who goes to her spouse as a virgin

   each of us begins as the Immaculate Conception:  that is how God saw us when we were conceived in His mind and realized through the creative power of the Father

who wholly embraces the Shema... 

and conceives the Word of God Himself

and goes to her spouse after the birth as a virgin again

each of blessed through holy matrimony that is fruitful has a first time that we laid with our beloved husbands as the mother of his child...  This also is a virginity, a newness in our relationship that changes everything.

who grieves at the sight...

of her dead God

and her dead husband

But rejoices as both still live!

When Almighy God elevates us to the Order of Widows, we are again virgin.  Like Virgin, or Mother, a Widow is a station of life.  

Catholic canon law prohibits that anyone be forced to change one's station of life. The difference is that this station is one that we may not have chosen. 

RAHAB: A Whore No More

The Office of Readings for June 14, 2018 includes a homily by Origen, a great theologian who I greatly admire.  But... I take issue with some of what he says.  Here is the excerpt that all of us read this morning:

______________________________________________________________________________________
(the following text copied from the Pro Terra Sanctum ibreviary)
From a homily on Joshua by Origen, priest
(Hom. 6, 4: PG 12, 855-856)

The capture of Jericho

Once Jericho was surrounded it had to be stormed. How then was Jericho stormed? No sword was drawn against it, no battering ram was aimed at it, no javelins were hurled. The priests merely sounded their trumpets, and the walls of Jericho collapsed. 

In the Scriptures Jericho is often represented as an image of the world. There can be no doubt that the man whom the Gospel describes as going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and falling into the hands of brigands is an image of Adam being driven out of paradise into the exile of this world. Likewise the blind men in Jericho, to whom Jesus came to give sight, signified the people in this world who were blinded by ignorance, to whom the son of God came.

Jericho will fall, then; this world will perish. Indeed in the sacred books the end of the world was proclaimed long ago. How will the world be brought to an end, and by what means will it be destroyed? The answer of Scripture is: By the sound of trumpets. If you ask what trumpets, then let Paul reveal the secret. Listen to what he says: The trumpet will sound, and the dead who are in Christ will rise incorruptible. The voice of the archangel and the trumpets of God will give the signal, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Then the Lord Jesus will conquer Jericho with trumpets and destroy it, saving only the harlot and her household. 

Jesus our Lord will come says Paul, and he will come with the sound of trumpets. He will save only the woman who received his spies, that is, his apostles, in faith and obedience, and hid them on the roof of her house; and he will join this harlot to the house of Israel. But let us not bring up her past sins again or impute them to her. She was a harlot once, but now she is joined to Christ, chaste virgin to one chaste husband. Listen to what the Apostle says of her: He has determined to present you to Christ as a chaste virgin to her one and only husband. Indeed, Paul himself had been born of her: Misled by our folly and disbelief, he said, we too were once slaves to our passions and to pleasures of every kind. 

If you wish to learn more fully about how this harlot ceased to be a harlot then listen to Paul once again: And such were you also, but you have been cleansed and made holy in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. To assure her escape when Jericho was destroyed, the harlot was given that most effective symbol of salvation, the scarlet cord. For it is by the blood of Christ that the entire Church is saved, in the same Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom belongs glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"How then was Jericho stormed?"  Origen asks.  His answer is good, but he does not go far enough.

Jericho is indeed the image of the world, as he states..  But he misses the point, I think. It's not the silly trumpets that bring down the walls!  Yes, they blow the ram's horns as they circle the city once for six days and seven times on the seventh day, and the wall does fall at the end of this 7th circuit when the people shout.... BUT, that's not the truth told in this episode from the book of Joshua.  It's not the point of the story, and it's not a full truth.

A better answer is that the walls of Jericho fell because the Israelites obeyed the WORD OF GOD through their leader Joshua.  The Lord told Joshua what to do, he conveyed His instructions to the people.  The whole Israelite community obeyed Joshua's commands in every particular.  

"Jericho will fall, then; this world will perish."   Yes, Jericho will fall, but by 'Jericho' we refer to its peoples, not to the physical land.  Those inhabitants of Jericho who did not accept God's Word -  those who rejected Him and worshipped idols instead - ceased to exist to enjoy God's bounteous gift. They were dispossessed of that fine city. Only those who have accepted the One Holy Almighty One will be preserved on that day.  

Rahab may have been a literal harlot; however, others see her as an innkeeper.  But what I think cannot be disputed is that she also is a figure for all enslaved by original sin, the crime of not giving the only true God His due.  But Rahab receives God's messengers, she shelters and helps Joshua's spies that are sent to her, and she is 'whore' no more but accepts God's Word that she receives from His messengers and aids them in their work.  The world is indeed destroyed, but we're not talking about a physical land disappearing but an emptying and conquering of sin (inhabitants) to make way for the new Creation transformed by the glory of God in the Holy Spirit through the Presence of the Risen Christ, Emmanuel.  This transformation already has begun, as through baptism each Christian carries the seeds of His Kingdom in this physical universe.  We bring all peoples to Christ through our daily lives; it is we who reconcile  Rahab and join her as one of the People of God.

In further support of what I say, let us also remember the other meaning for "Rahab"

 4 [11] Rahab: a mythological sea monster whose name is used in the Bible mainly as a personification of primeval chaos. Cf ⇒ Job 9:13; ⇒ 26:12; ⇒Psalm 74:13-14; ⇒ Isaiah 51:9.

(see NAB footnote 4 for Psalm 89:11 above).  So we see that these spies of Jericho bring the Light of Christ, the Word of God, to those enslaved by ignorance.  Rahab the harlot hears rumors of the Israelites and is filled with the holy fear of the power of their God.  Her heart was opened by the Holy Spirit, for it is that Person who brings the gift of awe!  And when 

I have a very wise mother. 





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today (June 14th)  is also the Carmelite Feast of Elisha the prophet, successor to Elijah and so his "eldest son" in THE LORD who so received a double inheritance...