Laudato Si Second Round
It is being argued by some that even if over-all spiritual teachings in the Encyclical are good and poetically expressed, the fact remains that the document will be used by our enemies  as proof that even Catholics agree on these issues, to promote abortion, contraception, etc. for their usual agendas. 

This is probably true, however, to hark back to other eras:

In the time of Jesus, the Zealots wanted to overthrow Rome. Roman rule was certainly full of evils of many kinds. The Zealots thought maybe Jesus could overcome Rome , since he was getting so popular.  Does that mean Jesus should have been a Zealot instead of our spiritual savior? He condemned in His spiritual teaching what was wrong when Romans or anyone else did evil. Did that mean that He was really a Zealot in disguise? 

Now Pope Francis is condemning many things that are wrong in our world which are also condemned by some who are certainly not Catholic believers.  Does that mean that he has joined their ranks and we need to go into schism?  At the same time he condemns some of them for putting animal rights over the rights of unborn babies.  

Or, in the 19th century, there were Communists condemning the exploitation of the poor. They were dangerous enemies of the Church. Many communists were involved in the movement of labor unions.  Pope Leo XIII came out behind the union movement as a remedy.  Does that mean he was allying the Church with the Communists?  

Pope Francis Laudato Si – second Encyclical

I started to read it not expecting to like it.  Why not?  Well, I know almost nothing about facts concerning the environment or economics.  Also I was afraid it would feed into the ideas of those who are more concerned about whales than babies in the womb. In fact, Pope Francis chides such people for not understanding that if we are to protect the vulnerable the unborn babe in the womb surely comes first!
Reading it confirmed me how upset I get when some very strong magisterial Catholics go by web-sites instead of original sources and sometimes don’t even know what is taught in the Catechism of the Catholic Church! (Don’t we, on “our side of the Church” talk about how the famous ad in the NY Times dissenting from Humanae Vitae was written and signed before the final document came out!)

Just to clarify.  What is in Enyclicals is only infallible on faith and morals if it teaches what the Church has always taught. Infallibility doesn’t apply to applications concerning facts which can be changing with the times.  Dietrich Von Hildebrand used to explain that usury is still wrong! What changed is that banking made taking reasonable loans on interest something that helped the poor.  The applications of the principle change not the principle.
However, whether in certain circumstances and times capitalism helps the poor the most or not we can differ on.  My parents, ex-Communists, and right wing Republicans, loved the way capitalism helped the poor, but they certainly understood and taught us about the problem of poverty world-wide and never denied that unchecked capitalism can be exploitative of the poor as in industrial sweat-shops – the present applications such as trafficking mentioned by Pope Francis are certainly real. 

I would hope that readers, not of headlines, but of the whole document would not deny that capitalism can be a force for sins of greed as well as a force for good.  
What I loved was most of the Franciscan part of the Encyclical. To start, though, what I didn’t like was a way of talking about our relationship to the animals that leaves out that the Church has never taught vegetarianism, so, after all, slaughtering animals for meat is a huge part of our relationship to them!   
However, on the positive side, I never really considered environmentalism in relation to the Franciscan sense of nature as Creation or that a technological paradigm can cause some of us to only see nature as something for use and not for contemplation.

A third order Franciscan friend of mine who is also one of Fr. Hardon’s Marian Catechists, Gary McCabe, put it this way:    
Certainly in Chapter I, sec 1, the Holy Father gets into the politics of pollution and climate change.  Especially in the area of climate change, where he assumes the "settled nature of science" (which studies he does not specify), I think he'll receive some criticism.

 (Before sending you more comments on the Encyclical, for now, a hit tune from the 20's (the 1220's) by that really cool dude, Francis:

“The Canticle of Brother Sun

Most High, all powerful, good Lord, 
Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, 
and all blessing.

To You alone, Most High, do they belong, 
and no man is worthy to mention Your name.

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, 
especially through my lord Brother Sun, 
who brings the day; and you give light through him. 
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! 
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praise be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon 
and the stars, in heaven you formed them 
clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, 
and through the air, cloudy and serene, 
and every kind of weather through which 
You give sustenance to Your creatures.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, 
which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, 
through whom you light the night and he is beautiful 
and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth, 
who sustains us and governs us and who produces 
varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord, 
through those who give pardon for Your love, 
and bear infirmity and tribulation.

Blessed are those who endure in peace 
for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord, 
through our Sister Bodily Death, 
from whom no living man can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin. 
Blessed are those whom death will 
find in Your most holy will, 
for the second death shall do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord, 
and give Him thanks 
and serve Him with great humility.

AMEN

“The Legend of Perugia, 43, narrates the circumstances of the composition of the first section of the Canticle, in which the saint invites all creation to praise its Creator. The author describes the intense suffering of the Poverello in that period after he had received the stigmata… the Little Poor Man does not lose himself in space or in the vastness of the created world. He becomes so intimate and familiar with the wonders of creation that he embraces them as "Brother" and "Sister," that is, members of one family. More than any other aspect of the Canticle, this unique feature has enhanced the spiritual tradition of Christian spirituality.”

(This introduction on the "Canticle" has been taken from: The Classics of Western Spirituality - Francis & Clare - Translation and Introduction by: Regis J. Armstrong, OFM, Cap. and Ignatius C. Brady, OFM).

July 25, 2008
“Thy Will be Done!”
Holy Spirit:

Your underlying motive for doing what is good can sometimes be to please others. Their pleasure in you makes you feel secure, that you won’t lose them.
It doesn’t work. Why not? You are not a clone or a slave. There are limits on how well you can meet every need and desire of another human. On the positive side, your own personhood seeks freedom to develop independently. Another person can reject you whenever you act not as a clone or as a slave. Then you feel devastated, cast out of relationship into a void.
When you say the Lord’s prayer: “Thy will be done,” and mean it, you break-through the dismal cycle of dependence on human affirmation. You seek a higher motive for your acts.
Jesus certainly didn’t please the powers of His time! In His human nature He had to be willing to accept the total rejection of most men to fulfill the will of His Father in heaven. It is because He knew Him so intimately as His Father that He could accept being crucified by men.
Do you see how the phrase in the prayer “Thy will be done” comes as a result of the first line “Our Father.” It is not a formula. It’s a reality. Through sacraments and prayer you become truly one with the Father. Then you have the strength to act out of the knowledge of being totally loved. More and more you are doing the will of the Father. You don’t have to look around all the time to see if you are pleasing the people around you.

The first step may be understanding this truth. That can happen in an instant. Only gradually, however, can We heal your hearts of the wounds of failed attempts at trying to find security in human love.
As this process continues, look at every choice you make and ask Us to help you answer questions such as these:
- Is this act good in itself?
- Am I doing it primarily because of its goodness (Thy will) or only to please a human? (How do you know? There are different ways but one way to see is whether if human approval is lessened or removed you still want to do it.)
Then ask Us to give you wisdom and prudence and fortitude to carry out Our will. Accept that when you throw yourself whole-heartedly into what you think is God’s will you may be rejected or the work may be stopped by opponents or just circumstances.

(Today the conflict with the close friend was resolved with mutual forgiveness. Thanks be to Jesus, Mary, Joseph, God the Father, the Holy Spirit and our angels. But I still felt kind of shattered and exhausted by it. This locution seemed as if the Holy Spirit was trying to bring truth out of it.)

My grandson, Alex Conley, who is in first year law school had fun writing this for the family.  
CHORE CONTRACT

I.               GENERAL

a.     All signatories hereby agree to all of the provisions below individually and in conjunction with the other provisions.

II.            DURATION

a.     This contract shall be effective as of ____________  ____, 2015.

b.     This contract and all provisions therein will be valid and binding on all signatories.

III.          AMENDMENTS

a.     This contract will be amendable at any time.

b.     Amendments must be put into writing and agreed upon unanimously by all signatories.

IV.          DISPUTES

a.     Disputes shall heretofore be defined as any disagreement or misunderstanding relating to the language of the contract, the language of the CHECKLIST, or any disagreement or misunderstanding with another signatory which arises in out of this contract.

b.     All disputes arising from this contract or any provision of this contract must be raised by a signatory in a reasonable and expedient manner.

c.     Failure by a signatory to raise a dispute regarding the contract reasonably and foreseeably will result in a waiver of that dispute, unless all parties unanimously agree otherwise.

d.     All disputes will be brought to the attention of every signatory, and can be resolved only by the unanimous agreement of every signatory.

e.     If a unanimous agreement as to a dispute cannot be reached, the contract will remain unchanged.

V.             CHECKLIST

a.     A CHECKLIST containing a list of all the chores and those parties that shall be responsible for the completion of each chore will be drafted and agreed upon unanimously by all signatories.

b.     An initial draft of the CHECKLIST will be written by ________(The Father) within a reasonable time after the signing of this contract.

                             i.     The initial draft must be sent to and approved by every signatory to this contract, within a reasonable time.

                              ii.     Any misunderstandings or ambiguities regarding the initial draft must be timely raised prior to approval.

                               iii.     Once approved unanimously by all signatories, the initial draft will become the CHECKLIST.

c.     The CHECKLIST will be a binding agreement on all the signatories to this contract.

d.     Any latently discovered misunderstandings or ambiguities as to the CHECKLIST will be subject to the DISPUTES process above.

VI.          FUN and ENJOYMENT

a.     There will be an attempt to implement FUN and ENJOYMENT into all chores which are done in a group.

b.     Neither FUN nor ENJOYMENT will have any strict definition or requirements, but the manner of FUN and ENJOYMENT will be agreed upon by the signatories who wish to have FUN or ENJOYMENT that working on the group chore at the time.

c.     Any signatory working with a group on a chore in which FUN or ENJOYMENT has been implemented will not be required to take part in aforementioned FUN or take any aforementioned ENJOYMENT from the chore.

                                 i.     No pressure shall be placed to have FUN or ENJOYMENT on those signatories not taking part in FUN or ENJOYMENT by any other signatory.

                                  ii.     Any signatory choosing not to have FUN or ENJOYMENT can withdraw from the aforementioned FUN at any time, and can cease taking ENJOYMENT from the chore at any time.

d.     Refusal to take part in the aforementioned FUN or ENJOYMENT will not be used against a signatory in any other way related to this contract or the CHECKLIST.

a.  The signatory that is required by the CHECKLIST to do the “clearing” job associated with the “dishes” chore will be required for the duration of this contract to do the task of TABLE CLEANING.

b.  The specifications and requirements of TABLE CLEANING will be agreed upon within a reasonable time of the signing of this contract.

 i.     The specifications and requirements of TABLE CLEANING must be unanimously approved to by all parties.

ii.     Once approved, the specifications and requirements of TABLE CLEANING will be binding on all signatories.

VIII.      LAUNDRY

a.     10 year old daughter Martina’s laundry will be washed and dried every _____________, by either her father or herself

b.     ZACHARY CONLEY’s laundry will be washed and dried every ______________, by ZACHARY CONLEY.

c.     MAXIMILLIAN CONLEY’s laundry will be washed and dried every ______________, by MAXIMILLIAN CONLEY.

d.     All laundry done by any signatory shall be started prior to __:_____ PM on the day stipulated above, by the signatory stated above.

e.     Failure by a signatory to do laundry on the day given above does not give the signatory a right to do laundry at a different day or time without the unanimous approval of all parties.

IX.           SIGNATURES

a.     The signing of this contract will create a binding and enforceable agreement between you and all other signatories.

 

SIGNATURE of Father: __________________________________________ DATE: ________________

SIGNATURE of Mother: __________________________________________ DATE: ________________

 

SIGNATURE: __________________________________________ DATE: ________________

Maximillian Conley

SIGNATURE: __________________________________________ DATE: ________________

Zachary Conley

SIGNATURE: __________________________________________ DATE: ________________                                                    Martina

________________________________________________________________

More from God Alone locutions. For an explanation of these, see 12/18, 2014 blog.