"...anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a mathom. Their dwellings were apt to become rather crowded with mathoms, and many of the presents that passed from hand to hand were of that sort."
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell." - Clive Staples Lewis, The Four Loves
I don't know if this translates to those who don't know Spanish, or those who don't understand our affection for the Blessed Virgin. But this celebration in Mexico City is amazing (and if you click on the youtube link it has multiple parts following). It is only idolatrous to the mind who does not see how connected we all are. It makes sense to those who know that our heavenly family is ONE. And she, together with all of the saints, have done so much to keep us from danger. The denial of this, is isolation. It's the world on each person's shoulders. There are many things about by reflections such as the Pilgrim's Progress that bother me, and I think it's the nature of his journey that appears to be so lonely. Overemphasizing who I am as an individual leads to egotism, and makes us forget how many times we have been helped.
How often have I thought that I may owe all the graces I've received to the prayers of a person who begged them from God for me, and whom I shall know only in heaven. St. Therese of Lisieux
What should I blog about? I have too many ideas to start. I need focus. The first 3 ideas people mention will receive my undivided attention (as possible as that is in the 21st century) and I'll just GO.
That's my promise to you. I recently reached a milestone at work (1 year anniversary, yadda yadda), and realized that I need to not just link things, but share things with anyone may be interested in my mathoms.
We'll see what I have up my sleeve. My other thought is that I don't want this to be about one thing. At one point I had over 4 blogs that had funneled various thoughts about the world. Well, I think that anything that isn't too private that is worth blogging about (and those are two filters which would shrink the blogosphere in size by at least 100-fold) will make it's way here.
I'm lifting this directly from Bryan Cross' blog, Principium Unitatis. I had read the print article but hadn't seen the video footage until today. As an Eastern Catholic my heart's strong desire is to see these Orthodox Christians who are so close to communion with Catholics bridge the gap needed for us to share a meal at one common table. What a testimony to those who doubt this would be? There is so much confusion about all of the various groups who call on Christ--and I believe that with each barrier that is broken, the light grows more.
Bulgarian Orthodox Leader Affirms Desire for Unity
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A Bulgarian Orthodox prelate told Benedict XVI of his desire for unity, and his commitment to accelerate communion with the Catholic Church.
At the end of Wednesday’s general audience, Bishop Tichon, head of the diocese for Central and Western Europe of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria, stated to the Pope, “We must find unity as soon as possible and finally celebrate together,” L’Osservatore Romano reported.
“People don’t understand our divisions and our discussions,” the bishop stated. He affirmed that he will “not spare any efforts” to work for the quick restoration of “communion between Catholics and Orthodox.” Bishop Tichon said that “the theological dialogue that is going forward in these days in Cyprus is certainly important, but we should not be afraid to say that we must find as soon as possible the way to celebrate together.”
“A Catholic will not become an Orthodox and vice versa, but we must approach the altar together,” he added. The prelate told the Pontiff that “this aspiration is a feeling that arose from the works of the assembly” of his diocese, held in Rome, in which all the priests and two delegates from every Bulgarian Orthodox parish took part.
“We have come to the Pope to express our desire for unity and also because he is the Bishop of Rome, the city that hosted our assembly,” he stated.
Pray for those who make accusations against you. Say, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’, not ‘have mercy on him’, and your accuser will be embraced in this prayer. Does someone say something to you that upsets you? God knows it. What you have to do is open your arms and say, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’, and make your accuser one with yourself. And God knows what is torturing your accuser deep inside of him and, seeing your love, he hastens to help. He searches the desires of hearts. What is it that Saint Paul says in his Epistle to the Romans? He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because in accord with God He makes intercession for the saints.
Pray for the purification of each and every person so that you may imitate the prayer of the angels in your life. Yes, the angels don’t pray for themselves. This is how I pray for people, for the Church and for the body of the Church. The moment you pray for the Church, you are released from your passions. The moment you glorify God, your soul is calmed and sanctified by divine grace. This is the art I want you to learn.
Ἀμήν. Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, Ἅγιος Ἰσχυρός, Ἅγιος Ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς. Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, Ἅγιος Ἰσχυρός, Ἅγιος Ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς. Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, Ἅγιος Ἰσχυρός, Ἅγιος Ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς. Δόξα Πατρί καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι. Καὶ νῦν καὶ ἀεί καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰώνας τῶν αἰώνων, Ἀμήν. Ἅγιος Ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς. ---- Amen. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Both now and ever and unto ages of ages, Amen. Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
the walls of our house are thinner than paper the roof is a vapor that hangs in the air and our wedding bed is made from the same stuff our bodies are made of if no heavy breath blew up these lungs while dirt and wet spit hung a ghost in the air well, we’re still here while kids and their friends make war by the fire their old men retire to drink and do drugs we long for the truth we argue about it but most of us doubt it can ever be found is a ship without a captain just as doomed as a ship without a crew ‘cause of all my friends who try to tell the truth there are still a faithful few who insist they won’t know what to do if no heavy breath blew up these lungs while dirt and wet spit hung a ghost in the air well, we’re still here
There is some amazing imagery of Adam and Eve in this song (the album version is fuller than this live recording, which is stripped down and lacks the interesting vignette about ships without captains and crews), and I hadn't caught it until I thought about the lyrics more.
I also really appreciate the tie in between Christ healing the blind man (a re-creation, if you will) and that original act of creation. And yes, like his friends I still insist that I wouldn't know what to do, if no heavy breath blew up these lungs while dirt and wet spit hung a ghost in the air.
"Then let us love one another and laugh. Time passes, and we shall soon laugh no longer--and meanwhile common living is a burden, and earnest men are at siege upon us all around. Let us suffer absurdities, for that is only to suffer one another." --- Hilaire Belloc
