SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE UPDATE: PATIENCE

SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE UPDATE: PATIENCE

.a good Christian life cannot be pursued without a regular examination of conscience and a good grounding in the virtues...

...virtues stem from the grace deposited in the ground of the soul by God..the root of all virtue is humility which is characterized by a patient and loving submission to authority...

...the stem of the virtues is Holy obedience which allows us to utilize the commands of God in daily life...

...the other virtues branch off this tree and allow our soul to become a verdant abode of God’s spirit (the Holy Spirit)....

..the virtues themselves may be divided into three categories..the theological, the intellectual and the moral...

..indeed Religion without Sacrifice is an enemy of virtue....if one has not mortified the reason through prudence and obedience to succesors of the apostles in good standing then they have practiced Religion without sacrificing their will and in the end no virtue can grow from the ground of the soul where God deposits grace..God does not deposit grace in the emotion or intellect if he did these would need to transcend themselves ...God deposits his grace in the ground of the soul where it cannot be felt..so we must exercise grace in order for virtue to grow from it...and in this way the fruits of grace will be felt through charity to our neighbour.... from the inside out not as we see in MEDJUGORJE from the outside in....this is how we hear the saying the kingdom of God is within,,since God works from the inside of the soul where we are made in his image and likeness..

...is is whythe devil works  through the emotions and feelings so we guard ourselves from such spiritual flushings since the devil can easily trick some into the belief they have had a  quasi "religious experience"..indeed this is all false since the devil cannot get inside as God can..so the devil will lure us with flushings and stirrings to get us to betray the reason and the tradition of the Church...and trust ourselves..this is how the devil scatters the flock indeed one of the devil's names is the one who scatters....from the Greek diabellein..is derived the word devil..since God and the Holy Spirit unify through charity  of course the devil is intent on casting apart and dividing the flock..however he does this subtly since he is a beguiler....

...attached to the the moral virtue of fortitude is the virtue of patience which disposes a soul to endure present evils so that such a one is not cast down or become crestfallen when crosses and tribulations arise...patience disposes a person to hope in the life of the world to come and so works as  a support for faith...without patience one cannot exercise faith since faith is concerned with the things unseen and the things to come...if one has not the patience to wait and persevere through the passing fates of the present then such a soul will falter in faith and become cold and intemperate..and since temperance is a custodian of all the virtues such a one will inevitably fall into unseemly habits such as overzealousness, fanaticism, extremism and spiritual gluttony...since without patience such a one will fail in charity by being unable to endure assaults and insults and injury since they will be quick to anger and querulous (quick to quarrel) with urges and desires...such a spirit is opposed to God since God is not quick to anger and  steadfast in love  and fidelity to all... as the scripture says...

[8] The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in mercy. [9] The Lord is sweet to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. [10] Let all thy works, O lord, praise thee: and let thy saints bless thee.

Psalm 144:8-10, Douay Rheims

…as we see in MEDJUGORJE adherents are eager and curious and hungry for the next message from the GOSPA…they are impatient and do not exercise faith but turn devotions into chores rather than acts of faith…everything in such a spirituality is turned inside out..everything is done for themselves rather than for their neighbour..people go on long pilgrimage for their own good feelings and call these stirrings “graces”..yet they fail in charity to their neighbour since they do not pray for unity of cause of the Church but only long to save themselves..this is a contradiction to the message Jesus teaches in the Gospel….it is an entirely self-centred spirituality…it is a denial of faith hope and charity which are the three theological virtues…

[41] Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. [42] For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink. [43] I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you covered me not: sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. [44] Then they also shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? [45] Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me.

[46] And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.

Matthew 25:41-46, Douay Rheims

..let us all guard ourselves from spiritual gluttony so that we may not fail in charity to our neighbour…in the active life we must put ourselves at the disposal of our neighbour so that we become attentive to the needs of others rather than be turned in upon ourselves…being consumed with prayers and fasting yet being inattentive to the needs of the people we come in contact with on a daily basis sets us up for hypocrisy and in the end makes all Christians look bad..remember the devil inspires people to live outside their vocation so that a person who has specific talents for a certain vocation becomes inspired through deceits of the devil to cling to a station in life they are not suited…yet through pride they aim above their aspect…and this is a deception of the devil..in the spiritual life we should aim for balance not excess…

…what good is it if one fasts and prays but vilifies the traditions of the Church of Christ through mockery of two Bishops in good standing through public festivals which are unauthorized…indeed attending the sacraments is good but if one does not exercise charity to their neighbour the good is cancelled out by negligence and spiritual laziness..at MEDJUGORJE people just want to feel good yet they do not strive to carry the cross of Christ in obedience as Christ did….

Let us see what the humble and gentle saints say about the virtue of patience……

'Just as suffering and dishonor usually give birth to virtues, so pleasure and self-esteem usually give birth to vices.'

- St. Mark the Ascetic

'Patience is a companion to wisdom'

-St. Augustine

(as opposed to vain curiosity in visions and messages)

And we beseech you, brethren, rebuke the unquiet, comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be patient towards all men

1 Thessalonians 5:14  (Douay Rheims bible)


........amen

MEDJUGORJE POPE FRANCIS: INFORMAL OPPROBRIUM

MEDJUGORJE POPE FRANCIS: INFORMAL OPPROBRIUM

..from the words of Pope Francis in a recent homily...

 

“The spirit of curiosity distances us from the Spirit of wisdom…which gives us peace,” Pope Francis said at this morning’s mass in St. Martha’s House in the Vatican. Bergoglio emphasised that the Virgin Mary “is not postmistress, who sends messages every day" and asked faithful to understand that “the Kingdom of God is among us” and we should “not seek strange things.”

 

...we see the Pope is referring to visions on demand..these types of visions subvert the faith...by replacing the things not seen with things seen and touched...to walk in the dark light of faith is to walk in the way of abnegation (mortification)...or agnosia...the way of forgetting...when the soul has cleared itself of everything it is only God which remains...

...curiosity is a form of anxiety...it is taken as a vice opposed to wisdom if pursued with impetus of pride and self glory...

As St. Augustine says

Augustine says (De Morib. Eccl. 21): "Some there are who forsaking virtue, and ignorant of what God is, and of the majesty of that nature which ever remains the same, imagine they are doing something great, if with surpassing curiosity and keenness they explore the whole mass of this body which we call the world. So great a pride is thus begotten, that one would think they dwelt in the very heavens about which they argue."

 

As St Thomas Aquinas says curiosity becomes a vice opposed to virtue when…

, when a man studies to know the truth above the capacity of his own intelligence, since by so doing men easily fall into error: wherefore it is written (Sirach 3:22): "Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and search not into things above thy ability . . . and in many of His works be not curious," and further on (Sirach 3:26), "For . . . the suspicion of them hath deceived many, and hath detained their minds in vanity."

..of course this can do no-one any good since the knowledge they glean will be abused and be cast as pearls of wisdom before swine….curiosity is also known as concupiscence of the eyes since it is concerned mainly with the lust of knowledge for its own sake and not for the properly ordered knowledge of wisdom which is related to charity…

..as well if abnegation of the imagination exercises faith and abnegation of the will exercises charity and abnegation of the memory exercises hope then it follows that daily apparitions are an enemy to faith hope and charity…the three theological virtues…since daily apparitions provide food for the imagination to gorge in spiritual lust after signs and beautiful images, they provide food for the memory in which to bask and feel consoled thus subverting hope in the world to come and replacing it with rest in this world..as well by allowing the will to attach the intellect to such curiosities a soul fails in charity since it detaches itself from the love of neighbor and loses God who forever dwells in the moment…since such a one thinks of their own desires and seeks to satiate their own curiosity and fails in seeking God’s will..without charity no virtue is pleasing to God..since God is charity…

…amen

MEDJUGORJE CDF BOMBSHELL: THE SAINTS

MEDJUGORJE CDF BOMBSHELL: THE SAINTS

 

 

..from a recent letter addressed to the Bishops conference of the United States of America the faithful have learned that the Vatican has warned off public festivals asserting the truth and or credibility of the apparitions of MEDJUGORJE...

...let us hear what the wise the venerables and the humble saints have to say about faith and the importance of obedience to the decrees of the Church in our journey or the way of the cross...

 

 

"Although you perform many works, if you do not deny your will and submit yourself, losing all solicitude about yourself and your affairs, you will not make progress."

If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark."

-St. John of the Cross

 

"Faith has to do with things that are not seen, and hope with things that are not in hand.

Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church.

--St. Thomas Aquinas

“Some people want to look upon God with their eyes, as they look upon a cow, and want to love God as they love a cow. Thus they love God for the sake of external riches and of internal solace; but these people do not love God aright ... Foolish people deem that they should look upon God as though He stood there and they here. It is not thus. God and I are one in the act of knowing

--Meister Eckhart

God has no need of your money, but the poor have. You give it to the poor, and God receives it.

 

--St. Augustine

 

Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.

--Saint Rose of Lima

The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will.

--Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

 

The will of the Bishop is the will of God

--Padre Pio

 

...and one poem which is not directly related to the topic yet is a personal favourite and hints of why people are drawn to apparitions as a symptom of loneliness and lack of love…

All things desire –Thomas Aquinas

ALL THINGS DESIRE

All things desire to be like God,
and infinite space is a mirror
that tries
to reflect His
body.

But it can’t.

All that infinite existence can show us of Him
is only an atom of God’s
being.

God stood behind Himself one night and cast a
brilliant shadow from which creation
came.

Even this shadow is such a flame that
moths consume their selves in it every second -
with their sacred passion to possess
beautiful
forms.

Existence mirrors God the best it can,
though how arrogant for any image in that mirror,
for any human being, to
think they know

His will;

for His will has never been spoken,

His voice would ignite
the earth’s wings

and all upon
it.

We invent truths about God to protect ourselves
from the wolf’s cries we hear
and make.

All things desire to be like God,
all things desire to
love.

....amen