CORPUS CHRISTI, A MOVEABLE FEAST, AND SAINT LUTGARDIS - JUNE 16, 2022

 

Corpus Christi is a "moveable feast." Today is the actual day, i.e., the Thursday just following Trinity Sunday UNLESS the Sunday after Trinity Sunday is free from another obligatory feast, which is the case THIS year, but Corpus Christi is such a pivotal and rather important aspect of our faith, that I tend to start on Thursday and maintain the mood through the next Sunday. In fact, the time period between Pentacost Sunday (which marks my entrance into the church) and Corpus Christi, has a deeply personal significance and cause for celebration for me.

Today is one of those days when I really wish that my physical condition was a bit better, just so I could attend church and have the blessing of the Eucharist. Of course, I do believe that, having received it once, it is of enduring benefit, but humans tend to appreciate the blessings that are repeated at regular intervals.

Because of Covid 19 pandemic, I have not tried to get anyone to visit me with the Eucharist on a regular basis. The last person who was bringing it started delivering it with the good news of Donald Trump instead of the day's Bible reading, and I objected to the substitution.

The Gospel reading for today is Matthew 6:7-15 in which He gives us the Our Father prayer and says that it is how we are to pray:

"Our Father, who art in Heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come

Thy will be done

On earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us

and lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil."

Forgiveness of others is a wonderful message that is obviously extremely important to our Lord. Every time I ask something of God I remind myself to advocate also for those who have hurt me or others. To be able to put aside all resentment and the urge for retaliation is SO important. One cannot always enjoy the idea of repaying evil with good, but I can make that positive decision for it, regardless of feelings.

Every time this topic comes up, I have to work on my own capacity for forgiveness, especially with regard to some really big and shocking things done in a deliberate effort to hurt me and to also hurt my poor father who suffered from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease. His whole life he said, "when I die, kid, you're gonna be rich!" He said it all the time. Provisions in his will reflected it, giving each of his daughters a third of his estate and another third for someone else.  It would have come in handy for someone like me who is disabled, but it is not what happened.

After my father got Alzheimer's he was taken to an attorney entirely unknown to him and I was written out of his will . Shortly thereafter, my poor father died under EXTREMELY suspicious circumstances.  His death certificate was signed by a quack doctor who later went to prison for writing prescriptions for patients he never saw!  I was not notified of my father's death until his body had been cremated, and it was too late for me to get the police involved. 

In the process of trying to get information about my father's suspicious death, I also learned about some outrageous lies that were told about me - to my father before he died, and to family after the fact. Supposedly, I had called and screamed at this person, when telephone records will confirm that this never happened. I DID try many times to reach my father, leaving concerned messages, but I never heard back. I did not realize that my messages were being erased by someone else.  I did not know that my father had dementia or that he was being told lies about me in order to position him into an emotional state that would allow someone else to write me out of his will.  During this time, that person ALSO contacted me and told me, "your father does not love you. He used to have a picture of you by the bed, but he threw it away."

The person responsible for this was obviously trying to manipulate my father (and everyone else) before his death and cover their tracks afterwards.  They were successful in this, as many people are because, face it, Americans don't really care about disabled people or old people. A LOT of people think it is perfectly OK to kill a person with dementia. They say things like, "he wouldn't want to live like that." I know my father really well, and he definitely would not want to be killed. He would expect that people he took care of with the money earned from his hard work would, in turn, take care of him until his natural death. But when the money is rushing out the door for 24 hour, around-the-clock care, certain types of people start to say that "ending his (or her) misery" is the compassionate thing to do.

Every year around this time, I have to endure the emotional distress surrounding the suspicious circumstances of his death. It aggravates my PTSD something fierce. I have this vision in my mind of my father being moved into a room by himself, given an overdose of some medication from that quack doctor, the same doctor who later signed the death certificate, and then he was allowed to struggle and die, alone and unloved. And there is nothing I can do about it because his body was cremated before I knew anything. I was 3 states away, disabled and poor, without the wherewithal to travel to see him.

Imagine the type of personality who could plan and then carry out something like this! Yet, I can freely write about it because it is so common that my description could describe any one of thousands of people who met their death in the exact same way, under the exact same circumstances. These days, our society counts it as a "favor" when disabled and demented people are "helped to die." Doctors are often 'in on' the schemes. The victim typically leaves money and property behind. How convenient.

Given all this, I often feel grateful to be poor. No one will be murdering ME for my money, because I do not have any. I own no property. I leave behind only bills.

To make matters worse, other family members intervened after my father's death and compounded the injury, benefitting financially with despicable machinations originally framed as something supposed to "help" me but which were designed to back me into a corner and rob me instead. This too is quite common. The moment someone dies, it is often the trigger for the worst character traits to suddenly come out by anyone involved. I wasn't expecting it because my mind does not operate in this way. It took me far too long to realize the grift that was being perpetrated on me, on top of everything else. This is the stuff of which murder mysteries are made.

I have learned from this experience and others that human beings "become" avaricious when someone dies. They're like cockroaches scavenging a dead bug. It is a perfect example of why humans need the forgiveness of God and why having money is more of a curse than a blessing.

It is not easy to pray for the welfare of people responsible for heinous acts against myself and people I love, but I can decide to forgive without feeling happy about it. I keep having to make that decision, over and over again, every year around the anniversary of my poor father's death - chipping away, each time, at the tendency for unforgiveness. The happiness I do feel is in obeying the commandments of my Lord. He will deal with the cruel perfidious people responsible for everything that happened to my Dad and all the other dads that meet their fate in that way. Life is short, but eternity is very very long.

The Feast of Corpus Christi is the celebration of the Eucharist, so I plan to watch mass online and take advantage of spiritual communion. I am exhausted from the aftereffects of the booster shot I received yesterday. I can barely move, but I have many things to do. I pray for the energy to do what is necessary.

Saint Lutgardis

b. 1182

d. 16 June 1246

Today is also the feast day for Saint Lutgardis, who is the patron saint for people who suffer from blindness, disability, handicaps, and physical challenges, which is right up my alley, isn't it?

When she was only twelve years old, she was placed in a convent because her family had "lost" her dowry in a failed business deal, and there was no hope of finding her a good marriage. It is SO sad to read these stories about how women were treated as property until a very short time ago. Here in America, for instance, a woman could not have a credit card in her own name until the 1970's, nor could she sign pretty much any legal document without a co-signature from her father or her husband.

In the Middle Ages, when Lutgardis lived, a family had to PAY a man to take their daughter off their hands. Women were considered a burden on the family and, in the case of poor families especially, a useless extra mouth to feed. It didn't matter how much work a woman did in the household. She was never credited with the benefits of it. (To be fair, marriages were more credibly looked upon as the merging of two families rather than just individuals - and love matches were fairly rare.)

The ONE way a woman could be perceived as having any value was when she became a nun, but Lutgardis had little real interest in religion. An attractive young woman who enjoyed nice clothing and entertainment, she lived in the convent as if it was a private apartment, coming and going, hosting visitors, and generally being a scandal.  I suspect this was not an unusual state of affairs, considering the spot that women were in at that time. There were a LOT of children placed in convents who had not the slightest interest in any sort of religious vocation, but living as a nun was better than living in the world as an unmarried girl, which carried the weight of disgrace.

But suddenly, one day, while relaxing and enjoying conversation with a gentleman caller in the parlor, she was struck with a vision of Jesus Christ, showing his wounds to her. She dispensed with the ersatz lover and, from that point forward, she was transformed. Of course, the other nuns were skeptical, even after she made her solemn profession as a Benedictine. But she continued to have many visions of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist. When Pope Innocent III died, he came to her to thank her for her prayers and sacrifices that she had offered for him while he was still alive.

Pope Innocent III

I love this story of Lutgardis being visited with mystical visions, despite being a pleasure-loving young woman. I relate to this very much, since I came to monasticism later in life. I find her a good example for me. I also love it that the Lord came after her and graced her with visions.  It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and will lead her

into the wilderness: and I will speak to her heart."

Hosea 2:14

Don't we all wish that the Lord would lure us away from the world and speak to our hearts in this way? Clearly he wanted Lutgardis for his own because he interfered with her flirtation with that young man in the parlor. I used to carry in my wallet a little slip of paper with this Bible passage written on it. Then I knew it by heart and gave it away to someone who needed it.

, 

Lutgardis is credited with having many mystical experiences, levitating into the air and a type of stigmata. When the Benedictine convent where she lived was trying to make her an abbess, she did not want the honor, and she shortly thereafter left them to join the Cistercians, which is an intensely contemplative order. Still, she became known for her spiritual wisdom and the miracles she performed. 

For 11 years before her death, she was blind. Macular degeneration is the principle cause of blindness in older age. It is the disease I have that has destroyed the vision in my left eye, and I would just bet that Lurgardis had this same disease. She was 64 when she died. It is interesting that she is a patron saint of blindness. I should remember to discuss my eyesight with her!

She deliberately refused to speak the French that was used among the Cistercians so that she could practice an extremely solitary and quiet life. She continued to receive visions of Christ and the saints.

She was one of the first saints to be devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the first recorded mystical revelation of His heart was hers. 

In the 13th Century, she was QUITE popular, and she is memorialized in art by several prestigious artists. There is a statue of her made by Matthias Braun, and she was painted by Goya.  To this day she is revered as one of the more famous mystics of the 13th century.

Painting of Lutgardis by Goya

There are many more stories of the really remarkable mystical life of this unexpected saint, caught unawares by the grace of God, and I hope I have time to read more about her! 

Less than two years after her death, a book was written about her by Thomas of Cantimpre, a Dominican friar and theologian. 

Thomas Merton, one of my favorite contemplatives, wrote What Are these Wounds? The Life of a Cistercian Mystic: Saint Lutgarde of Aywieres (Bruce Publishing Company, 1950.)

This is one of the books on my Amazon wish list for books, which you can see:

HERE IS MY WISH LIST FOR BOOKS ON AMAZON

Today has not been terribly productive. I am having some side effects from the Covid 19 booster shot I received yesterday. All I have managed to do is fill out this year's paperwork for my apartment lease renewal, make my daily meal, and go to the bank and get a little grocery money. All of that is in addition to my study for today's saint of the day, etc.

I did spend a short time on Facebook where I wrote a little public service message about these infernal fake memes that attribute quotes to Pope Francis that are actually New Age messaging invented out of whole cloth by some scammer on the internet. People really need to get their quotes (and their facts) from reliable sources - and we all need to remember that just because it sounds good does not mean it is true!

Speaking of truth: I watched the "January 6th" hearing today and was surprised to learn that nearly every close advisor in the Trump administration told him that "the big lie" was, well... a big lie... and that there was no legal way to force Pence to throw out the electors chosen by the people. Even after the mob had started killing people and were chanting, "hang Mike Pence," with a gallows in the background to emphasize the point, Trump egged them on. Advisors begged him to stop the violence, but he refused. It is hard to believe that anyone supports him now, but they do. The world puzzles me. What can I say but please, rely on facts in all things. Rely on TRUTH.

May you all have a blessed day, and I hope my little blog post has given you something helpful.

May we all be blessed!

Silver Rose
Sannyasini Kaliprana

Silver Cottage Hermitage

P.S. All of the blog posts I write are independently researched and written by me and all of them are protected by legal copyright and may not be copied for any purpose by any person for any reason, so please just enjoy them here and leave them here where you found them.

(c) Copyright 2022, Silver S. Parnell

All rights reserved.

No copying for any purpose by anyone is allowed.

Sources, partial list:

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 

Catholic Online

Wikimili

Wikipedia

Catholic News Agency

Loyola Press - Saint Lutgarde of Aywieres

Jan. 6th - Day 3

THE JOY OF THINKING WELL OF OTHERS

Saint Therese of Lisieux

Sometime in my life, I resolved to try to put myself in the place of others in my estimation of them. Curbing my natural skepticism and critical nature has proved to be no pic nic, I can assure you, as I have often had to backtrack, review, revise, and then move forward with the current iteration of that plan for kindness and understanding.

"Nothing is sweeter than to think well of others."

Saint Therese of Lisieux

In the current case of Donald Trump, this is particularly difficult, because he is doing and saying evil things. How do I think well of someone who is hurting so many people?

"President Trump's Twitter account has been pure fire lately...
This is the kind of WHITE NATIONALISM we elected him for."
Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin

Firstly, I am unable to put myself in his position. I don't travel in anything like his circle of business or politics, but most pertinent is that I simply can't imagine myself doing and saying any of the horrible things he does.

allthatsinteresting.com

"32 Donald Trump Quotes You Have to Read to Believe"

"It is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than

for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle."

Jesus

The pursuit of power has always baffled me and, although I have had plenty of experience with people who deliberately hurt others in order to benefit financially, I never have understood their larcenous hearts. Most disturbing are those who find delight in hurting others.

Fortunately, these types seem to be in the minority. (I have personal experience with only one individual in my life, who exults in damaging people just for the pleasure of it. There has been no period of time in which I was in touch with that toxic character that they weren't enacting some plot to harm me or some other person in her orbit. Nevertheless, I have no insight. The situation is too far outside my ken.)

Jesus and the money changers

So, what do I do about this contradiction? I wish to think well of others, give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and look upon all with the kind regard demanded of us by our faith. How does one do this when faced with evil? I will not pretend that evil is good. So, what is the answer?

My latest resolution is to pray for people who are doing evil at the same time that I lobby against their hurtful actions, which is difficult, but that's the point, isn't it? Jesus knew what he was doing when He told us to pray for our enemies and do good to them. The spiritual exercise it demands is fearsome.

allthatsinteresting.com

"32 Donald Trump Quotes You Have to Read to Believe"

What occurs to me as the most important aspect of this is that I do not presume to know the inner heart of a person. I do not know what Donald Trump thinks. His words are a clue, but they aren't absolutely definitive. None of us has x-ray vision of the soul and we cannot say with authority exactly what are the motives of another person, even someone who speaks as much as he does.

It is crucial, for me, that I do not label any human being "evil" because I would be eliminating the Lord from the equation thereby. I would be dooming that human being to a life devoid of the possibility of repentance and rehabilitation. Certainly, I myself have benefited from the forgiveness of the Lord in the past. I must give everyone else that same assurance.

allthatsinteresting.com

"32 Donald Trump Quotes You Have to Read to Believe"

During these difficult times, when Trump's government is ripping children away from their parents and throwing them in cages to sleep on cement floors with paper blankets, crammed in with too many other children, none of whom have proper food or hygiene or anything necessary for mental and emotional health - and deporting all the immigrant children who are getting vital medical treatment not available in their country of origin and who will die without it - I want to scream to the heavens. You bet I have wanted to call Trump the most horrible of names. I have wanted to curse him and damn him to hell. It takes great restraint not to do so.

Drew Angerer / Getty Images

allthatsinteresting.com

Currently, there is a large group of people who are supporting government actions that are obviously evil - things that violate every precept we supposedly hold dear in our country - while at the same time confidently believing they are saving the world. Outsiders tend to presume that the people in that group know they are wrong and are deliberately doing wicked things in order to benefit in some way. That is sometimes the case, but not typically.

allthatsinteresting.com

"32 Donald Trump Quotes You Have to Read to Believe"

For whatever reason, whether through some brain washing, exotic fascination, or religious fanaticism, this group will support damnable atrocities of this administration, while at the same time asserting righteousness. I am frequently reminded of the Nazi era in Germany where Hitler rose to power, not through force, but through the support of ordinary Germans who somehow did not realize they were cooperating with evil. What is happening in our country is very similar to that time period. Trump's words are very similar, such as calling the news media "the enemy of the people," and "fake news."  Hitler called the press "lugenpresse," ("lying press') and likewise demonized vulnerable groups of people, i.e., the Jews, the gays, the disabled, the elderly, and the immigrant.




The term "lugenpresse" has started to be heard in Trump rallies, yelled out by the "alt right" supporters of Trump. It isn't surprising, since the Nazi Party and various white supremacist figures have lauded Trump. You can read more about it:

HERE - IN AN ARTICLE IN BUZZ FEE NEWS; and,

HERE - IN BREITBART

It is quite clear to me, and no doubt to all my readers, that this adoption of a Nazi propaganda tool by the American right wing is the antithesis of American democracy, in which respect for and support of journalists is enshrined in the First Amendment to our Constitution. It seems incredible to us that Trump sycophants aren't bothered by it.

Prior to his election, Trump talked about demolishing the First Amendment so that he could sue journalists who write unflattering things about him:

"We're going to open up those libel laws so when the 

New York Times writes a hit piece, which is a total 

disgrace, or when the Washington Post, which is 

there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can 

sue them and win money instead of having no 

chance of winning because they're totally protected. 

We're going to open up libel laws and we're going 

to have people sue you like you've never got sued 

before." Donald Trump

The First Amendment protects free speech for a very important reason. It is the bedrock of our democracy. We are a country in which our citizens are free to speak their minds. Any attempt to quash that freedom is a sure sign of a dictatorship or fascist movement attempting to assert itself. I am free to say anything I like about Donald Trump and his cohorts. My spiritual orientation is what makes me want to keep an appropriate "lid" on what I say about his spiritual condition, but if I were to be compelled by law to conform to a rule of only saying flattering things about him and his policies, I would definitely be in the resistance on that score.

Some day, the mist may clear from the psychic eyes of the die-hard Trump supporters in government, and they may recognize their error and thereafter change the way they operate. I need to leave a space open for those folks to have the time to transcend their current condition, while at the same time, I fight to protect vulnerable people who are Trump's targets. It isn't easy!

Every day, I fight this battle. I try very hard not to succumb to the natural human impulse to say that he is evil personified, or the anti-Christ or whatever other slur that comes to mind. I keep thinking about former president Jimmy Carter and how he was always extremely respectful of his colleagues and his competitors alike. In the debates, he always used to say "my esteemed opponent."

Instead of reacting against the personality of Trump, I am trying to focus on the really excellent example of the dignified, respectable, truly Christian Jimmy Carter, who has a gravitas that Trump will likely never have. Once again, it is a matter of where one puts one's attention, right?

Hate the sin. Love the sinner. Repeat.
God save us all, including Donald Trump

 Silver Rose

TOMORROW IS THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Mary, the Immaculate Conception

The feast of the Immaculate Conception is a solemnity in the Catholic Church and a Holy Day of Obligation, which means you have to go, barring illness or seniority. I am physically unable to sit through mass, so I hope that those of you who are ABLE to attend will do so and take me with you in your prayers.

Today a friend of mine succumbed (once again) to the blandishments of a scam artist who called, out of the blue, offered to give her a big loan to pay off all her credit cards, and under the pretense of needing information to see if she qualified, asked her for all her credit card numbers and critical info.

Thanks be to God, I had been mysteriously drawn to drop by while walking my dog, shortly after she'd had this phone call, and I was able to get her to call her credit card companies and report it so that the scam artist couldn't make any charges. I was so upset by this additional reminder that my friend is disappearing - collapsing into a mind that no longer supports her - that I managed to snap at her angrily.

Later, I reflected on my snappishness, and it occurred to me that I used to be nicer. What happened? I had somehow become a very pale version of my father, a horrifying angry man who flew into a fury at the slightest mistake on my behalf. I remember once, coming into the house after a late night and turning on a light so I could see my way from the living room to my bedroom, and how he came tearing out of his bedroom, murder in his eyes, screaming at the top of lungs about how selfish I was for turning on a light and waking him up.

He was not the kind of dad that was concerned that his daughter might trip over something in the living room so that he left a light on for her while she was out to dinner with friends. No. Though a millionaire, he was stringently thrifty and was more concerned about the electric bill than any pesky broken bones of mine.

Our parents form a certain part of our psyche certainly, but there is also an accumulation of  other violences endured.  I can trace the time my personality started to change when I was conned by a family member in a (successful) effort to dispossess me of my inheritance from said father of the murderous rage.

Failing to thoroughly forgive those that hurt us, especially those persons who knowingly and deliberately damage us in an evil way, is a sure method of twisting our personalities. Jesus was a brilliant psychologist.

I was really bothered that my first instinct was anger and irritation when my friend had, once again, handed over all her personal and financial information to a stranger. I know there is something wrong with this woman - Alzheimer's or medication issues or what have you - but even at this late stage of life, when I have spent scores of years practicing compassion, kindness and patience, I fell back into being my father's ghostly image. It doesn't matter that, whatever disintegrating process is wreaking havoc on her brain also causes her to be consistently nasty to me most of the time these days. She probably cannot help herself.

I sat down to pray Vespers from the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I have a wooden lap desk where I store my prayer books and rosaries, and it makes me happy and peaceful just to open it up and handle my holy things. My prayers weren't all that uplifting today, but I felt a wonderful peace in just meditating for 15 minutes or so. I resolved to be more regular with my prayer schedule and especially with my prayers of forgiveness.

A few years ago, In a small lined notebook, I started a "forgiveness journal," writing down the names of people I need to forgive and a brief description of WHY. Forgiveness, in general, is not hard for me to do. I love to forgive people, especially those who ASK for it.  People who commit evil because it suits them to benefit themselves at someone else's expense and have no apparent remorse - those are the hard ones, aren't they? I have been the target of several of these sort of people, so forgiveness has become somewhat of a vocation for me.

There are people, who I suppose are sociopaths, who commit evil because they love to hurt people. I have one of those dangerous people in my family. I must forgive them, but it isn't enough to forgive once because the resentment and hurt come back like persistent mosquitoes. I have to do it every day.

Some time spent in meditation helped me arrive at a point of peace, as it usually does, and I resolved to be more regular with my prayer schedule. I listened to some recordings of other monastics reciting the Little Office and chanting the Latin prayers and was lifted up even more. There is so much beauty in the spiritual life!

Tomorrow is another day to start fresh.

Don't forget church tomorrow.

Silver Rose

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Saint Joseph of Cupertino

I have come under criticism for being rather simplistic in my online writing. I suppose I could be more sophisticated or entertaining, but I feel that, at times, our appetites for entertainment and soothing words mask a spiritual life that is disintegrating.

If we haven't got the basics under control, which many of us do not, all of the simpering commentary about our deep love for the Lord and the mystical feelings we experience therefrom, are just our own personal propaganda that we use to hide the fact that we are morally corrupt.

Do you lie, cheat and steal without confession and remorse? You can bellow out the words to your favorite hymn at church, cry at the reception of the eucharist, donate all your time to your "ministry", have a vocabulary complete devoid of swear words, and, although the world may cover you with flowers, you may still go to hell.

The Last Judgment

Many people presume upon the forgiveness of the Lord while they are lying, stealing and murdering and do not confess and repent of it. One woman, after I heard her lying to someone on the phone (in order to gain a monetary advantage) told me, "Don't you worry about me, Missy - I am going to heaven!" and "it isn't a lie, it's just a story." Later, she stole from me. Then I saw her stealing the food that was left out at the mailboxes for the food drive for which the postal workers were collecting for the poor. She lied about it later. ("It isn't a lie, it's a story.") It makes me very sad because, without confession and repentance, she will go to Hell, and I do not want anyone to go to Hell. I pray that she confesses and repents so that I may see her in Heaven.

There are also people who put themselves forward as spiritual personalities in order to hide their crimes. I heard of one who killed a wealthy, demented spouse with an overdose, had the body quickly cremated without a doctor seeing it, and collected sympathy cards with a sad air, between giving sappy sermons about the poor man they murdered. While the world rewards them for their spiritual masquerade, God certainly won't. Eternity is a very long time, and their ill-gotten gains won't accompany them after death.

Saint Theresa of Avila, in ecstacy

I love the mystical life. It is thrilling to read stories about the saints who experienced the miraculous, who heard the voice of the Lord and received his embrace in ecstacy. It is popular to focus on this aspect of spiritual life, and it IS a very real manifestation of spirituality, but it isn't what Jesus emphasized.
                                             

Saint Gregory

Jesus told us that he did not come to bring peace, but the sword. He said that our families would be rent apart, with one member against another. He told us that some people, at the end, would call out to Him, "Lord! Lord!" and that He would send them away, telling them that He does not know them. He promised that those who love Him would follow his commandments and would go to heaven.

Icon of the "ladder to heaven"

If you follow the commands of the Lord and live a truly holy life, it will separate you from those who do not follow him. It will make you a target of the evil that lives within the hearts of those who do not really love the Lord. You will suffer on this earth, just as Christ himself suffered. Those who do not obey the commandments of the Lord will lie about you and work against you in every way. They will steal from you and try to punish you for your goodness because evil cannot bear to see the beauty of the Lord that is manifested in one who is following the commandments of Jesus.

We weren't promised financial reward in exchange for a holy life. Some of the modern Protestant denominations promote a scandalous "prosperity gospel" which plays right into the modern love of money. It also encourages prejudice against the poor, which is the opposite of the message of Jesus and his apostles. I have seen it confuse people and pervert their faith. Some mistakenly think that, if they are living a prosperous life, then everything they do must be holy, and that is not the criteria that Jesus gave us.

I write about this topic because I think it is needed. We have plenty of entertaining books and blogs, as well as political writing that pretends to be spiritual but helps to distract us from the basics. I am attempting to direct attention to Jesus and what He said - to the Church and what it teaches - and to the Bible and the guidance it provides, because I have been shocked and saddened to see the large number of people who lie, cheat, steal, and murder while delusionaly believing that they will go to heaven anyway.

Because of love for my neighbor, fellow-feeling and compassion, I would like to see everyone go to Heaven. I am trying to encourage everyone to look to the faith and get their foundation built solidly on the commandments of Jesus that are built on the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament.

In short, stop your lyin' cheatin' and stealin' ya'll!

Silver Rose 

(Sannyasini Kaliprana)

Silver Cottage Ashram Hermitage

Albuquerque, New Mexico

THE GOD OF SECOND CHANCES

In Tuesday's general election, Hillary Clinton received the most votes from the people, but Donald Trump won the Electoral College votes and is therefore our new President Elect. As a result, there were thousands of people in a number of cities throughout the United States who protested Trump's election as our soon-to-be president. About ten thousand people protested in front of Trump Plaza, well into the late evening. Chicago and Los Angeles experienced large protests. Even here in Albuquerque, we had people in the streets.

This is by no means the first time that a president has lost the popular vote but won the election. It is a unique American quirk that we accept as the legitimate method of determining the winner in any campaign. Peaceful protest is also a feature of the American democratic system and, as long as it doesn't deteriorate into violence, is allowed to occur.

As soon as it became apparent that Trump was going to win the Electoral College votes, I began to pray for him, dedicating a rosary to his well-being and praying that Trump experience a radical conversion of heart. I continue to hope that the enormity of his responsibilities brings him to his knees before God, chastens him and humbles him, so that he can be successful as a president of all the people. As he begins to realize that most of the American people did not want him in the office, but he has to be president of all the people, I imagine it will likely hit him very hard.

My 33rd great grandmother was a Ukrainian ruler who earned a reputation as a bloody and retaliatory queen. In vengeance for the murder of her husband, she nearly wiped out an entire ethnic minority, doing so in a most gruesome and cruel manner. Later, she somehow experienced a great conversion, became baptized, and is now known as Saint Olga of Kiev, patron of widows and converts. If that woman can become a saint, there is hope for all of us.

A wonderful feature of our faith is the Lord's great love for us that manifests in forgiveness, over and over again, immediately upon our expression of regret and plea for forgiveness. Jesus is the ruler of our hearts and meets us there in love.

Donald Trump has expressed harsh criticisms against several minorities, the disabled, women, veterans captured in battle, the American press, and refugees escaping war torn countries. His rhetoric has been vulgar, insulting, retaliatory, and, frankly, dangerous to the welfare of our country (such as when he invited the Russians to covertly interfere with our elections, which, apparently, they did, to some degree or another.) His worldview, as consistently expressed by him, is the antithesis of the Christian worldview.

Despite all the negatives, Christians voted him into office because of his supposedly pro-life sentiments and his stated intention to appoint pro-life judges to the Supreme Court. In one sense, it was a wild gamble. Trump presents as anything but a good Christian man, but our hope springs eternal. We have seen great conversions before, and this is what it will take in order for this man to meet the expectations of the Christians who voted for him. This is what I pray for.

I ask all my readers to join me in praying for Donald Trump, his family and his support staff. Let us pray for his deep conversion of heart that strengthens his promises with regard to the pro-life cause. Let us pray that he seeks a soft spot on which to land when things get tough for him in the many many battles that face him, and that he realizes that the soft spot he seeks is the loving heart of Christ.

God bless us all...

Silver Rose

THE NATURE OF FORGIVENESS

I have heard from many people that they have had trouble forgiving certain people in their life.  Their emotional feelings of resentment, and sometimes righteous indignation, get in the way. A marginally Christian woman who had been the recipient of many years of abuse at the hands of an alcoholic husband told me just last night that she doesn't feel she can ever forgive him.

My bottom-line impression of forgiveness is that it does not rely upon any emotional feeling on my part. To my mind, forgiveness is a decision, a deliberate orientation toward the will of Christ, in response to his commandment that we are to forgive 70 times 7. Christ said that if we love Him we will follow his commandments, and this is one of them.

I have heard and read some Christians say that they do not believe in forgiving others and that they adhere to the "eye for an eye" principle found in the Old Testament. Jesus specifically abolished this standard, so it is hard for me to understand how someone who claims to be Christian can follow the old prescription.  I chalk it up to poor education in the faith, and perhaps some unwillingness to follow a faith, as opposed to requiring that the faith follow them.

In the "Our Father" we pray, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us." My willingness to forgive is directly tied to the measure of forgiveness that I receive from the Lord. This prayer is a reminder to me that I have many faults, and yet the Lord has forgiven me. He loves me, though I wouldn't say that I "deserve" it.  Can we ever say that we "deserve" the love of our Lord who is spotless, pure and without defects? Thinking along these lines prompts me toward a feeling of humility. It occurs to me that I must be humble if I am going to forgive those that hurt me.  Recalling my own sins and shortcomings chastens me.

I am not a theologian and I do not pretend to know and understand everything about this crucial aspect of the faith. I just thought I would write about my thoughts behind it and how I handle it. It is a topic with which I have had to wrestle quite a bit, having been the recipient of a great deal of brutality, unfairness and suffering throughout my life.

I have been physically, sexually, and mentally tortured.  I have been the object of public ridicule for nothing other than my weight.  I have experienced a great deal of rejection on superficial grounds.  I have been "kicked when I was down."  My reputation was destroyed among family members so that theft and murder could be disguised.  Friends abandoned me when I became ill.  Some abandoned me because I converted to Catholicism.  People to whom I have been generous and kind have stolen from me and lied about it. Family have turned their backs on me, living in luxury while studiously ignoring my need.

There has been a LOT to forgive!

My habit is to pray that the light of Christ becomes perceptible to those people who have hurt me, that they respond to it, become converted in their hearts, go to Him, and accept His love. As far as I can see, there can be no greater good for which I could pray.  If my prayers were to be answered, the persons for whom I pray would obviously become changed in a crucial way and would no longer be of an inclination to torment me or anyone else.  They would experience great joy and would naturally radiate that joy into the world.  We become transformed when we respond to God and begin to approach Him.  I know that I have changed. Bad habits still cling to me, no doubt, and I carry the cross of my inadequacies daily, but I also carry gratitude, peace and Divine Love. If I am to love others as much as I love myself, I assume that I must wish this great joy upon everyone.

In addition to specific prayers of forgiveness, which I repeat often, these people whom I have occasion to forgive are tacitly included in the grace I pray every time I am about to eat or drink something.  It is a standard format that I have altered to include prayers for mankind, as follows:

"Bless me, oh Lord, and these thy gifts which I am

about to receive from thy bounty.  May I always

be grateful.  In Jesus' precious name I pray that no

one go hungry today and that all souls become 

converted and go to You."

(My altered version of a standard grace before meals)

There is another thing that I do when I struggle against thoughts of retaliation.  In my book, forgiving someone means that I wish only the good for that person and that I do not entertain fanciful scenarios of that person being punished.  Deriving enjoyment from the idea of another person's suffering, even if it is deserved, is not a Christian sentiment. It can take a while before my heart is purified by the prayers of forgiveness.  

For example, I struggle with my feelings of ill will toward a person who masquerades as a religious personality in order to camouflage serious crimes and mortal sins.  This person engineered family estrangements using carefully crafted lies and manipulations, thereby isolating a vulnerable person, who died under suspicious circumstances.  Forgiving this criminal has been very difficult, but, every time I feel the twinge of resentment, I say a quick mental prayer, asking the Lord to forgive me for my lack of charity and also asking the Lord to bless this person.  "Vengeance is mine" saith the Lord. Clearly, it is not within my authority to judge a person and mete out the punishment, especially if I am supposed to love my enemies. Like everyone else, I am a work in progress.

The bottom line is that we CAN forgive even those people who have committed the most egregious sins against us because forgiveness is a decision guided by faith, not an emotion. Praying for our enemies is a matter of obedience to Christ's commandments

I pray for you all.  Please pray for me.

Silver "Rose" Parnell

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