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Breakthroughs

9/22/2016

5 Comments

 
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On the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, in the Office of Readings,  St. Bernard says that even though Mary knew beforehand that Jesus would die on a cross and that he would resurrect, she still had intense sufferings…

I would like to relate this teaching of St. Bernard to Dietrich Von Hildebrand’s book Jaws of Death and Gates of Heaven.  The great Catholic philosopher thought that it was kind of false spirituality to think that if one had great faith in Christ, one would not be afraid of death or grieved when other true believers died. He thought that death is a terrible effect of original sin and that it is appropriate to fear it in spite of faith in the promises of Jesus.  Our grief should bring us to intercede for those suffering in Purgatory even though we know they are in God’s hands.
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Breakthroughs come even to 79 year olds!
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I had a difference of opinion with a dear admired friend about an important matter. I was afraid he would reject me. I got the grace to hang-in without the usual amount of splutterings and drama-queen shows of anxiety. In a few days he compromised. 
This was so healing!

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Mother Mary seemed to tell me in prayer:  Do you see that when you are more peaceful about things, because of spending more time with us in prayer (Jesus and Mary) then you don’t get so angry or anxious and good things come out of previously what would have been very tenuous situations!!!!
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5 Comments

Other Side

9/12/2016

1 Comment

 
Give a little credit to the other side of the Church?
I am always complaining about what I call “the other side of the Church.” By this I mean those who dissent on some doctrines and morals. However, today I thought of something positive.
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Here was the occasion:  It happens to be about 90 degrees in Connecticut where I live and work.  The A/C broke in our large seminary chapel. This Sunday it seemed to be about 100 degrees even with a big fan. Now the Holy Mass preceded by Morning Prayer usually runs around 1 ½ hours.  The seminarians and sisters were sweltering, as well as the priest and the concelebrants, as well as us others. 
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I thought: “The priests on the other side of the Church, who are sometimes more concerned with the horizontal than the vertical, as it is put, such a priest would surely bring the Mass and the people to our air-conditioned cafeteria even though it is not a “sacred space.”
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Seeking Help in Old Age:

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​Brought up by Nietzschean atheists, as I was, who are trying to be supermen and women, can make it harder to realize that at 79 there is nothing wrong with wanting help in all kinds of ways.



​I am working on just being so grateful for all the loving family and friends that wants to help me in little ways, instead of wanting to be able to ignore my aging body and just fly in the Spirit.
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A friend gave me a great book to read by an English writer I had never heard of: Roger Scruton. The book is the Uses of Pessimism: And the Danger of False Hope and is about how evil utopias begin with an unreasonable optimism.  People like Hitler and Stalin and Mao, unrealistically imagine that making changes in society by eliminating the “bad people” will bring about paradise on earth. I see now that there are lots of You-tubes of talks by this witty and insightful philosopher.
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1 Comment

    Author

    Ronda Chervin received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Fordham University and an MA in Religious Studies from Notre Dame Apostolic Institute. She is a dedicated widow, mother, and grandmother.
    Ronda converted to the Catholic Faith from a Jewish, though atheistic, background and has been a Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Loyola Marymount University, the Seminary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is an international speaker and author of some fifty books about Catholic thought, practice and spirituality. One of her latest is LAST CALL, published by Goodbooks Media.
    Dr. Ronda is currently retired and living in Corpus Christi, Texas after her years of teaching philosophy at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut.
    You can contact her via e-mail by clicking here or by emailing [email protected] directly.

    Visit her websites:
    here and here.

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