As the Magi approached the little child, the openned up their gifts of gold, frankensense and myrr. Surely the gold was to honor the little Child as the long awaited King of the Jews.
___________________________________
Pilate asked Jesus: "Are you a king?"
Jesus said, "Who ever hears my voice hears the Truth. This is why I came into the world: to bear witness to the Truth."
Pilate said: "Then you are a king?"
Jesus said: "It is you who say that I am a king....My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, my attendants would have kept me from being turned over to the Jews; but as it is, my Kingdom is not of this world."
____________________________________
Satan said to Jesus: "Here are all the kingdoms of the world. They are all yours if you would bow down and worship me."
Jesus said: "You shall adore the Lord thy God; and him alone should you adore."
_____________________________________
Jesus said: "I am the Alpha and the Omega: the beginning and the end: Seems that the Truth is that Jesus is both King and Lord of all the Universe: in Heaven and on earth from forever to forever.
______________________________________
Is Jesus King of our hearts; or is He a mere figurehead in our lives? Seems that for Him to be declared King of our hearts, we must choose to serve Him as our King.
______________________________________
Is Jesus King and Lord of your business life, family life, academic life, sex life, religious life, spiritual life?
_______________________________________
Is Jesus your King and Lord? Hopefuly "Yes".
If not, then by default, you are serving the would-be-king: satan.
Peace and love,
Pio
Friday, November 30, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Pio's Proverb 205: Thanksgiving Day, 2012: what does it mean?
Thanksgiving Day 2012 is a day like no other because it follows a national election and parallels a time of almost civil war on many issues: religious liberty, protection of life for the unborn under the 14th Amendment, foreign policies that divide the country, military involvment in Iraq and Afganistan with the back-burner war of the US with Red China on civil liberties and domestic-foreign trade deficits.
How is this time like the times of 1863 when the first Thanksgiving day was made a national holiday by "Proclamation" by the President of the United States of America? Here are President Lincoln's own words that is very much in the style of the Gettisberg address. President Lincoln did not delegate this procolamation to someone else to write. He wrote it himself which shows the greaetness of the man:
"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and heathful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come. Others have abeen added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitualy insensible to the ever watchful providene of Almighty God.
"In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and serverity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military confilct; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttel or the ship; the axe has enlarged the boarders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as for the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Populations has steadily increased, notwithstaning the waste that been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permittied to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
"No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me to fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverenttly and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.
"I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning to foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as the day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our Beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverance and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perversness and disobedience, commend His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in this lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Diivne purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and Union.
"I testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Indepenence of the Untied Stetes in eighty-eight.
By the President: Abraham Lincom
William H. Seward, Secratry of State."
There is no sense of separation of church and state in this Proclamation.
God is honored, relied upon, thanked and praised. ON Thanksgiving Day in our Nation today, how much is about Thanking God? Yes, it is a time to be Thankful for family love, food on the table, our jobs, our health, our love for one another; but Abraham Lincoln goes one step further and tells us to look for the "source from which they came." To him "They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God." During these times, the ACLU wants no mention of Christ or have figures of the baby Jesus at Christmas on public ground..where you cannot display the Ten Commandments at Court Houses and cannot have prayer in public schools, this mention of God as the source of all our blessings is going out the window..as just not politically or fashionably correct. The fact is true though that without God, there would be nothing for us to be thankful for at all because ALL comes from Him initially: our life, our being, our health, our parents, our very need to thank God: all these "are the gracious gifts of the Most High God".
Therefore, for the Supreme Court to deny the 51 millions unborn lives to be born is what President Lincoln would call "sin": "They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy." What President has used the word, "sin" during our life time? 51 million lives lost is truly our national "sin". We are only second to atheistic Red China who has 400 million abortions in the last 30 years. How is it that we are Second in the World to Red China in number of abortions in the last three decades. They do not believe in God. But we do. Or do we?
Let us be thankful for all the blessing from God as so lovely said by Abraham for us to celebrate today in Thanksgiving and Praise to our Beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."
Peace and love and thanks be to God! Pio
How is this time like the times of 1863 when the first Thanksgiving day was made a national holiday by "Proclamation" by the President of the United States of America? Here are President Lincoln's own words that is very much in the style of the Gettisberg address. President Lincoln did not delegate this procolamation to someone else to write. He wrote it himself which shows the greaetness of the man:
"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and heathful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come. Others have abeen added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitualy insensible to the ever watchful providene of Almighty God.
"In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and serverity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military confilct; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttel or the ship; the axe has enlarged the boarders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as for the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Populations has steadily increased, notwithstaning the waste that been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permittied to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
"No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me to fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverenttly and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.
"I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning to foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as the day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our Beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverance and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perversness and disobedience, commend His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in this lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Diivne purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and Union.
"I testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Indepenence of the Untied Stetes in eighty-eight.
By the President: Abraham Lincom
William H. Seward, Secratry of State."
There is no sense of separation of church and state in this Proclamation.
God is honored, relied upon, thanked and praised. ON Thanksgiving Day in our Nation today, how much is about Thanking God? Yes, it is a time to be Thankful for family love, food on the table, our jobs, our health, our love for one another; but Abraham Lincoln goes one step further and tells us to look for the "source from which they came." To him "They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God." During these times, the ACLU wants no mention of Christ or have figures of the baby Jesus at Christmas on public ground..where you cannot display the Ten Commandments at Court Houses and cannot have prayer in public schools, this mention of God as the source of all our blessings is going out the window..as just not politically or fashionably correct. The fact is true though that without God, there would be nothing for us to be thankful for at all because ALL comes from Him initially: our life, our being, our health, our parents, our very need to thank God: all these "are the gracious gifts of the Most High God".
Therefore, for the Supreme Court to deny the 51 millions unborn lives to be born is what President Lincoln would call "sin": "They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy." What President has used the word, "sin" during our life time? 51 million lives lost is truly our national "sin". We are only second to atheistic Red China who has 400 million abortions in the last 30 years. How is it that we are Second in the World to Red China in number of abortions in the last three decades. They do not believe in God. But we do. Or do we?
Let us be thankful for all the blessing from God as so lovely said by Abraham for us to celebrate today in Thanksgiving and Praise to our Beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."
Peace and love and thanks be to God! Pio
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Pio's Proverb 204: A "good wife's" short exam!
Dear good wives across the world (and those who would love to be): I pray you all to do well on this "inspired" exam:
Sirach 26: 1-4, 6-9, 13-18
"Happy the husband of a good wife, twice lenghened are his days;
A worthy wife brings joy to her husband, peaceful and full is his life.
"A good wife is a generous gift bestowed uon his who fears the Lord;
Be he rich or poor, his heart is content, and a smile is evr on his face."
[Whereas]
"A jealous wife is heartache and mourning
and a scourging tongue like the other three.
A bad wife is a chafing yoke; he who marries her seizes a scorpion.
A drunken wife arouses great anger, for she does not hide her shame.
By her eyelids and her haughty stare an unchaste wife can be recognized."
[Rather]
"A gracious wife delights her husband, her thoughtfulness puts flesh on his bones;
A gift from the Lord is her governed speech, and her firm virtue is a surpassing worth.
Choicest of blessings is a modest wife, priceless her chaste person.
Like the sun rising in the Lord's heavens, the beauty of a virtuous wife is the radiance of her home.
Like the light which shines above the holy lampstand, are her beauty of face and graceful figure.
Golden columns on silver bases are her shapely limbs and steady feet."
---------------------------------Hope you did well-------------------------------
and...men: "Husbands loves your wives as Christ loves His Church and who sacrifices (gives up) His life up for her...." (St. Paul)
Friday, November 16, 2012
Pio's Proverb 203: Male and Female Approaches to God.
Experiencing the Male and Female Journeys to God
Written by Pio Peter Zammit, 1997,
for MA class requirement in Theology: Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
Introduction:
Since Jesus was fully human and gave glory to God the Father in His humanity, then to truly discover the divine in ourselves, we must become fully human. Since the quest of our humanity is union with Infinite Love and Truth and our capacity seems limitless, our approach to God must come from the depths of our humanity.
Our approach to God is a male approach and a female approach - since theology is basically coming from the male and female perspective. Christ’s approach to the Father encompassed both perspectives - which made Him fully human. Therefore, I would like my blog to be not a survey of all the insights from all the readings, but to use a few particular insights from the readings that support this fundamental truth - that we must approach God with a male-female perspective for men - and a female-male perspective for women; that is to say, that we cannot know ourselves fully as human until we have communion with the Divine; and we cannot have full communion or find God unless we understand the male-female spirituality as experienced in ourselves.
"Experienced" is the word - to know the experience of women in their quest for God is the "sine qua non" for finding God as a man. Knowing the male experience in his quest for God is the "sine qua non" for finding God as a woman. Jesus’ experience seems to have fully known both as evidenced in his fully relating to women and to men. His knowledge of women’s perspective is without parallel in human history. We men cannot become fully dignified as men - fully human - unless we not only know but experience female spirituality. Jungs’s concept of "anima" is helpful, but it must go beyond this. Knowing the spirituality of Theresa of Avila, Catherine of Sienna, our Lady, Joan of Arc and Julian of Norwich is a possible starting point, but head knowledge is not the basis of my thesis - EXPERIENCE is the key, and how do we get it? [Since Jesus is the expression/experience of the Father’s Being outwardly, then our experience of the divine will be in and through our humanness’ contact with Jesus inwardly - and expressed in Love for God inwardly - contemplation - and outwardly in Love for our neighbor.]
We, as men and women, can get the experience by knowing the struggles of the male and female journey to God in our own contemporary context. The dignity of our being fully human and its full realization are accomplished by seeing how Jesus did it and by seeing how men and women now - like Mother Theresa - are doing it - and by applying that wisdom in our life. Wisdom is right knowledge correctly applied. Getting Wisdom is what this course is all about. We can also ask for Divine Wisdom - it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can illuminate the readings so they become our own experience.
Therefore, how the struggles of both impact our spirituality is fundamental to our becoming fully human; that is, experiencing the struggles will impact on our reflecting the Divine more fully - and ultimately to coming to Love God with all our hearts, minds, soul and will - both here on earth and heaven. Growth in Love of God is dynamic - it starts now and continues forever!
How all the above impacts our ministry, our perceptions of ourselves, our perceptions of our neighbor, our perceptions of our mission and above all our perceptions of God are paramount.
Jesus’ experience seems to have fully known both as evidenced in his fully relating to women and to men. His knowledge of women’s perspective is without parallel in human history/example.
The role of the Holy Spirit in the readings and in Moreno’s role playing as a possible technique:
. Implications for my own ministry now and in the future experience.
.Going beyond Jung’s concept of anima by entering into Jesus’ Spirituality
. Male and female spirituality as experienced in ourselves: how is that possible since we are only one or the other? Knowing the experience of the other. An exercise in Moreno’s reverse role playing method:
. Learning the experience and enter into female Spirituality through the Saints:
. Theresa of Avila:
. Catherine of Sienna:
. Our Lady:
. Joan of Arc:
. Julian of Norwich:
. The struggles of the male and female journey to God in our own contemporary context:
Therefore, how the struggles of both impact our spirituality is fundamental to our becoming fully human; that is, experiencing the struggles will impact on our reflecting the Divine more fully - and ultimately to coming to Love God with all our hearts, minds, soul and will - both here on earth and heaven. Growth in Love of God is dynamic - it starts now and continues forever!
Let us look now at:
.Spirituality and Personal Growth of Two Subjects
.On their Journey to Full Maturity in God
.Spirituality and Personal Growth
.The Inter-relationship between Psychology and Spirituality
Introduction
Who has fully known the human heart and the deep mysteries contained in it? If God is such a Great Mystery - the Absolute Absolute - known completely by God alone, then how mysterious is God’s creation - human nature - embodied as man and woman. Just as there are many different human faces in this world, so too there are as many different human spirits, all at different stages of personal development both psychologically and spiritually.
This paper gives two contrasting examples of the above: one is a 47 year old man; the other is a 40 year old woman. The man developed to age 11 and, because of trauma, remained there, where it was emotionally safe and where he had mastered the tasks appropriate to that stage of personal growth. Spiritually, he loves God very much and God loves him. Since my interview with him on April 22, 1997, there is clear evidence tht he is beginning to move out of his safe-harbor stage of pre-adolescence. The emotional and spiritual growth in his perceptions of himself is giving him an effective clear sign that it is safe to move beyond his past pseudo-safety stage to a new experience of the self, due (in part) to new parenting.
The woman subject is far advanced beyond her years both in emotional maturity and spiritual growth. In the Teresa of Avila mode of spirituality, this woman is between the fourth and fifth mansions in the castle. She is actually further developed in the castle than Teresa was at the same chronological age of development. The accelerated growth of this subject is due to an early trauma that catapulted her to God as well as a result of loving, mature parents who gave her the best example of a faith response. Her responses to the questions are insightful as well as delightful.
The method of these two studies is that of the interview based on condensed parameters presented by Dr. Ana-Maria Rizzuto, psychiatrist. Dr. Rizzuto:
"shows how a person’s God-image is formed and developed, and she demonstrates the image’s potential for generating belief or unbelief...Her conclusion draws a direct correlation between belief, personal experience, and the God representation at a given developmental moment. That is, belief in God, or its absence depends on whether or not a conscious "identity of experience" can be established between the God representation of a given developmental moment and self- representations needed to maintain relatedness and hope."1
Let us examine the responses of both subjects in order to see their images of self and God, and their individual responses to life’s difficulties. The man’s response was to remain safe by not differentiating/separating from his protective mother until she died in 1993.
The woman’s response was to advance to being "mother" to the community by giving love, nurturance and examples of heroism in the Spirit. In the eyes of God, both are His beloved ones. The mystery of I-Thou relationships is only known fully by God, and known to the subjects in their ineffable experiences within their spirits. The mystery is heightened by our call from the Holy Spirit to full maturity in Christ. Our daring challenge is twofold: to grow from where we are just as the man dares to grow from where he is, and to mirror God as the woman does by her reflecting the beauty of God in her contemplative self.
Let us begin, then, with a brief review of definitions, terms and concepts from Theology, Spirituality, and Psychology which are mainly taken from hand-out notes provided by our professor:
For Fr. Karl Rahner: "Nearness to God and genuine human autonomy grow in direct and not inverse proportion. The more fully human one becomes, the more God is taking hold."
"Grace: God’s presence to and indwelling within the human person and human history."
"Theology is about the critical unpacking of the revelation of God that takes place in human experience through faith. (Fr.Dermot Lane, The Experience of God.)
"Spirituality: describes things of the spirit as distinct from things of matter."
"Spirituality concerns the way in which God influences conduct, our behavior and manner of life, our attitudes to other people." (The Study of Spirituality)
"Spirituality is the way a person leads his or her life. Christian Spirituality is the way we respond to God in the experiences of life, mediated through the life and teaching of Jesus Christ." (Roger Haight, "Liberationist Spirituality")
"Spirituality refers to the totality of human life energized by an inner drive for self-transcendence, that is , for moving beyond self-maintenance to reach out in love, free commitment to seek truth and goodness." Christian Spiritually: "this capacity is experienced in relation to the divine mystery as Source, and Incarnate Word, and life-giving Spirit there is Christian spirituality. (Joann Conn: Women’s Spirituality)
"Psychology is concerned with the study of the human person, mind and behavior, here and now for the purpose of healing and health." (Dr. Gerald May, Will and Spirit).
"The psychologist believes in the dignity and worth of the individual human being, He is committed to increasing man’s understanding of himself and others." (Professor’s notes)
Stagnation: As applying directly and critically to our male subject is paramount:
"The crises of which Erikson speaks is the challenge with which the person is faced as he or she experiences these opposing impulses. This is a decisive period in personal development, a critical time in one’s life. Some resolution must be reached. The person may decide not to face this new challenge, not to deal with the new questions raised, but rather to remain with the resolution of an earlier stage. But there is no reprieve. To choose not to face a new developmental challenge is to choose not stasis but stagnation. The ‘strengths’ of earlier stages of development remain so only as they are tested and transformed at later stages. Without this subsequent transformation, earlier strength atrophy into defended or immature responses." (Evelyn Eaton Whitehead/James D. Whitehead: Christian Life Patterns, p.31)
"Erikson divided Adolescence into three periods: the first is the Juvenile Period: early adolescence: 11-15 (Professor’s notes).
Transformation: As applying directly to our female subject is paramount:
"The Interior Castle, as a document of religious experience, is describing a series of conversions or transformations. The call of God moved Teresa into the unknown, into the anti-structure with its liminal experiences. The images in her document can be understood as symbolic vehicles for the greater awareness and new meanings born in the unknown."(John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.25)
"In other words, religious experience is not religious experience until it is communicated. I communicate it when I find some way of paying attention to, and reflecting upon, the experience. The communication may only be from myself to myself, but I am attending to my experience when I story it and I am hearing that experience as it is storied."(John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.23)
Images: As applying directly to all spirituality:
"Images for God should come from what matters most to us in life." (Professor’s notes)
‘In reflecting upon the Interior Castle, I believe it is possible to say that Teresa was using a process of active imagination. She was taking the images which spoke to her of her experiences with God and engaging them in a literary form. As one might sculp or paint images, Teresa imbedded hers in a story for reading and reflection. The story expresses her religious experience. Teresa is communicating her transformations, her conversions through image." (John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.23)
"Jung writes about the role of image in human experience. It is important to note that image aids our spirituality when we enter into our experience with the belief that God is calling us to union. Teresa’s entire castle story is the result of hearing God in her life." (John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.23
"The fourth dwelling place (mansion or room in the Castle image of Teresa of Avila)marks a time of transition in the prayer life of the traveler. Prayer becomes less and less discursive or activity totally controlled through human effort. Gradually, the experience becomes one of God drawing the soul into an interior state of recollection. The individual becomes passive in prayer."(John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.18)
"The fifth dwelling place is a time of deepening contemplative prayer which Teresa calls the prayer of union. In this prayer there is an experience of union with God..."(John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.23"
"Just as the persona is a mediating function between the ego and the outer world, so the anima or animus is a mediating function between the ego and the inner world. They lead the way in one’s spiritual development--just as Dante was led by Beatrice in his vision of ultimate truth. Thus the contrasexual psychic (anima/animus) entity also serves a positive function, and plays an important role in the journey toward wholeness." (Jung and Christianity: The Structure of the Psyche p22-23
"Other archetypal images are frequently encountered in the individuation process. Among these are the archetype of the great mother, the archetype of the spiritual father, the archetype of transformation, and what might be called the central archetype, which expresses psychic wholeness or totality: the archetype of the self." (Jung and Christianity: The Structure of the Psyche p22-23
Conclusion
These two stories are "ongoing". By the time this paper is read, both subjects will have advanced and changed because of their new experiences of the self. But this paper, a snap-shot in time of their spiritual and psychological growth, gives us a glimpse of how their God-imaging and self-imaging are dynamically related. Their real parents were key, but all their new "community parents" also have keys to unlock their hearts to God.
We are all reflecting images for good or ill to one another: Husbands are mirrors for their wives as wives for their husbands; brothers for their sisters, sisters for their brothers, pastors for their parishioners, the Church for the faithful, the faithful for their clergy, fathers and mothers for their sons and daughters. St. Theresa of Lisieux’s growth in the spiritual life was a mirror of how she saw herself as her father’s "little princess". So, too, she saw God as her Father who considered her His little princess. She dared to crawl up in God’s eternal lap with such familiarity as to almost treat God as an equal in her bold intimacy with Him. As she saw herself mirrored in her own dad, so she advanced spiritually with the confidence of a princess who had as good a God-image and self-image as any little girl could possibly have. Thus our image of self and our God-image are dynamically linked for belief or unbelief, trust or mistrust, intimacy or alienation, self esteem or low/no esteem, care for others or self absorption, subservience or dominance, capacity to love or not to love, safety to move successfully through the stages of life or to remain stagnated -- from early childhood of differentiation and identification to the later generative stage of caring for the community and finally letting go, having reached integrity in old age.
As our male subject’s image of himself changes, so does his identity of self change. And as that changes, so does his God-image. By parenting him, the community now mirrors for him a better image of himself than he saw as a child. He can begin to move out of pseudo safety, dare to set sail on a new adventure, and become the marvelous person God intended him to be. He can grow in his special relationship with God who is becoming more known with each new experience of his true self.
How does all this relate to our ministry:
Because of the inter-relatedness of Theology, Spirituality and Psychology, human and spiritual growth are moving together synergistically in the human person’s spiritual and personal growth.
Since Karl Rahner’s words: "The more fully human one becomes, the more God is taking hold" are being fulfilled contextually in the lives of both subjects of this study and can be experienced as true in their and our own very selves, then ministry must be multi-deminsional. Our awareness must be heightened:
We must be very aware of what we are mirroring to others about themselves. Are we mirroring as Jesus did the woman at the well: "I will give you living waters that well up within you." The adulterous woman: "Neither do I condemn you." Peter:"Do you love me, Peter?" Nathaniel: "Here is a man without guile." Judas: "Do you betray with a kiss?" For my ministry and yours, the most central thing from this course is that we are co-creating each day the image people have of themselves; and this will have dramatic effects on their God-imaging and faith in God.
Peace and love, Pio
Written by Pio Peter Zammit, 1997,
for MA class requirement in Theology: Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
Introduction:
Since Jesus was fully human and gave glory to God the Father in His humanity, then to truly discover the divine in ourselves, we must become fully human. Since the quest of our humanity is union with Infinite Love and Truth and our capacity seems limitless, our approach to God must come from the depths of our humanity.
Our approach to God is a male approach and a female approach - since theology is basically coming from the male and female perspective. Christ’s approach to the Father encompassed both perspectives - which made Him fully human. Therefore, I would like my blog to be not a survey of all the insights from all the readings, but to use a few particular insights from the readings that support this fundamental truth - that we must approach God with a male-female perspective for men - and a female-male perspective for women; that is to say, that we cannot know ourselves fully as human until we have communion with the Divine; and we cannot have full communion or find God unless we understand the male-female spirituality as experienced in ourselves.
"Experienced" is the word - to know the experience of women in their quest for God is the "sine qua non" for finding God as a man. Knowing the male experience in his quest for God is the "sine qua non" for finding God as a woman. Jesus’ experience seems to have fully known both as evidenced in his fully relating to women and to men. His knowledge of women’s perspective is without parallel in human history. We men cannot become fully dignified as men - fully human - unless we not only know but experience female spirituality. Jungs’s concept of "anima" is helpful, but it must go beyond this. Knowing the spirituality of Theresa of Avila, Catherine of Sienna, our Lady, Joan of Arc and Julian of Norwich is a possible starting point, but head knowledge is not the basis of my thesis - EXPERIENCE is the key, and how do we get it? [Since Jesus is the expression/experience of the Father’s Being outwardly, then our experience of the divine will be in and through our humanness’ contact with Jesus inwardly - and expressed in Love for God inwardly - contemplation - and outwardly in Love for our neighbor.]
We, as men and women, can get the experience by knowing the struggles of the male and female journey to God in our own contemporary context. The dignity of our being fully human and its full realization are accomplished by seeing how Jesus did it and by seeing how men and women now - like Mother Theresa - are doing it - and by applying that wisdom in our life. Wisdom is right knowledge correctly applied. Getting Wisdom is what this course is all about. We can also ask for Divine Wisdom - it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can illuminate the readings so they become our own experience.
Therefore, how the struggles of both impact our spirituality is fundamental to our becoming fully human; that is, experiencing the struggles will impact on our reflecting the Divine more fully - and ultimately to coming to Love God with all our hearts, minds, soul and will - both here on earth and heaven. Growth in Love of God is dynamic - it starts now and continues forever!
How all the above impacts our ministry, our perceptions of ourselves, our perceptions of our neighbor, our perceptions of our mission and above all our perceptions of God are paramount.
Jesus’ experience seems to have fully known both as evidenced in his fully relating to women and to men. His knowledge of women’s perspective is without parallel in human history/example.
The role of the Holy Spirit in the readings and in Moreno’s role playing as a possible technique:
. Implications for my own ministry now and in the future experience.
.Going beyond Jung’s concept of anima by entering into Jesus’ Spirituality
. Male and female spirituality as experienced in ourselves: how is that possible since we are only one or the other? Knowing the experience of the other. An exercise in Moreno’s reverse role playing method:
. Learning the experience and enter into female Spirituality through the Saints:
. Theresa of Avila:
. Catherine of Sienna:
. Our Lady:
. Joan of Arc:
. Julian of Norwich:
. The struggles of the male and female journey to God in our own contemporary context:
Therefore, how the struggles of both impact our spirituality is fundamental to our becoming fully human; that is, experiencing the struggles will impact on our reflecting the Divine more fully - and ultimately to coming to Love God with all our hearts, minds, soul and will - both here on earth and heaven. Growth in Love of God is dynamic - it starts now and continues forever!
Let us look now at:
.Spirituality and Personal Growth of Two Subjects
.On their Journey to Full Maturity in God
.Spirituality and Personal Growth
.The Inter-relationship between Psychology and Spirituality
Introduction
Who has fully known the human heart and the deep mysteries contained in it? If God is such a Great Mystery - the Absolute Absolute - known completely by God alone, then how mysterious is God’s creation - human nature - embodied as man and woman. Just as there are many different human faces in this world, so too there are as many different human spirits, all at different stages of personal development both psychologically and spiritually.
This paper gives two contrasting examples of the above: one is a 47 year old man; the other is a 40 year old woman. The man developed to age 11 and, because of trauma, remained there, where it was emotionally safe and where he had mastered the tasks appropriate to that stage of personal growth. Spiritually, he loves God very much and God loves him. Since my interview with him on April 22, 1997, there is clear evidence tht he is beginning to move out of his safe-harbor stage of pre-adolescence. The emotional and spiritual growth in his perceptions of himself is giving him an effective clear sign that it is safe to move beyond his past pseudo-safety stage to a new experience of the self, due (in part) to new parenting.
The woman subject is far advanced beyond her years both in emotional maturity and spiritual growth. In the Teresa of Avila mode of spirituality, this woman is between the fourth and fifth mansions in the castle. She is actually further developed in the castle than Teresa was at the same chronological age of development. The accelerated growth of this subject is due to an early trauma that catapulted her to God as well as a result of loving, mature parents who gave her the best example of a faith response. Her responses to the questions are insightful as well as delightful.
The method of these two studies is that of the interview based on condensed parameters presented by Dr. Ana-Maria Rizzuto, psychiatrist. Dr. Rizzuto:
"shows how a person’s God-image is formed and developed, and she demonstrates the image’s potential for generating belief or unbelief...Her conclusion draws a direct correlation between belief, personal experience, and the God representation at a given developmental moment. That is, belief in God, or its absence depends on whether or not a conscious "identity of experience" can be established between the God representation of a given developmental moment and self- representations needed to maintain relatedness and hope."1
Let us examine the responses of both subjects in order to see their images of self and God, and their individual responses to life’s difficulties. The man’s response was to remain safe by not differentiating/separating from his protective mother until she died in 1993.
The woman’s response was to advance to being "mother" to the community by giving love, nurturance and examples of heroism in the Spirit. In the eyes of God, both are His beloved ones. The mystery of I-Thou relationships is only known fully by God, and known to the subjects in their ineffable experiences within their spirits. The mystery is heightened by our call from the Holy Spirit to full maturity in Christ. Our daring challenge is twofold: to grow from where we are just as the man dares to grow from where he is, and to mirror God as the woman does by her reflecting the beauty of God in her contemplative self.
Let us begin, then, with a brief review of definitions, terms and concepts from Theology, Spirituality, and Psychology which are mainly taken from hand-out notes provided by our professor:
For Fr. Karl Rahner: "Nearness to God and genuine human autonomy grow in direct and not inverse proportion. The more fully human one becomes, the more God is taking hold."
"Grace: God’s presence to and indwelling within the human person and human history."
"Theology is about the critical unpacking of the revelation of God that takes place in human experience through faith. (Fr.Dermot Lane, The Experience of God.)
"Spirituality: describes things of the spirit as distinct from things of matter."
"Spirituality concerns the way in which God influences conduct, our behavior and manner of life, our attitudes to other people." (The Study of Spirituality)
"Spirituality is the way a person leads his or her life. Christian Spirituality is the way we respond to God in the experiences of life, mediated through the life and teaching of Jesus Christ." (Roger Haight, "Liberationist Spirituality")
"Spirituality refers to the totality of human life energized by an inner drive for self-transcendence, that is , for moving beyond self-maintenance to reach out in love, free commitment to seek truth and goodness." Christian Spiritually: "this capacity is experienced in relation to the divine mystery as Source, and Incarnate Word, and life-giving Spirit there is Christian spirituality. (Joann Conn: Women’s Spirituality)
"Psychology is concerned with the study of the human person, mind and behavior, here and now for the purpose of healing and health." (Dr. Gerald May, Will and Spirit).
"The psychologist believes in the dignity and worth of the individual human being, He is committed to increasing man’s understanding of himself and others." (Professor’s notes)
Stagnation: As applying directly and critically to our male subject is paramount:
"The crises of which Erikson speaks is the challenge with which the person is faced as he or she experiences these opposing impulses. This is a decisive period in personal development, a critical time in one’s life. Some resolution must be reached. The person may decide not to face this new challenge, not to deal with the new questions raised, but rather to remain with the resolution of an earlier stage. But there is no reprieve. To choose not to face a new developmental challenge is to choose not stasis but stagnation. The ‘strengths’ of earlier stages of development remain so only as they are tested and transformed at later stages. Without this subsequent transformation, earlier strength atrophy into defended or immature responses." (Evelyn Eaton Whitehead/James D. Whitehead: Christian Life Patterns, p.31)
"Erikson divided Adolescence into three periods: the first is the Juvenile Period: early adolescence: 11-15 (Professor’s notes).
Transformation: As applying directly to our female subject is paramount:
"The Interior Castle, as a document of religious experience, is describing a series of conversions or transformations. The call of God moved Teresa into the unknown, into the anti-structure with its liminal experiences. The images in her document can be understood as symbolic vehicles for the greater awareness and new meanings born in the unknown."(John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.25)
"In other words, religious experience is not religious experience until it is communicated. I communicate it when I find some way of paying attention to, and reflecting upon, the experience. The communication may only be from myself to myself, but I am attending to my experience when I story it and I am hearing that experience as it is storied."(John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.23)
Images: As applying directly to all spirituality:
"Images for God should come from what matters most to us in life." (Professor’s notes)
‘In reflecting upon the Interior Castle, I believe it is possible to say that Teresa was using a process of active imagination. She was taking the images which spoke to her of her experiences with God and engaging them in a literary form. As one might sculp or paint images, Teresa imbedded hers in a story for reading and reflection. The story expresses her religious experience. Teresa is communicating her transformations, her conversions through image." (John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.23)
"Jung writes about the role of image in human experience. It is important to note that image aids our spirituality when we enter into our experience with the belief that God is calling us to union. Teresa’s entire castle story is the result of hearing God in her life." (John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.23
"The fourth dwelling place (mansion or room in the Castle image of Teresa of Avila)marks a time of transition in the prayer life of the traveler. Prayer becomes less and less discursive or activity totally controlled through human effort. Gradually, the experience becomes one of God drawing the soul into an interior state of recollection. The individual becomes passive in prayer."(John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.18)
"The fifth dwelling place is a time of deepening contemplative prayer which Teresa calls the prayer of union. In this prayer there is an experience of union with God..."(John Welch: Spiritual Pilgrims, p.23"
"Just as the persona is a mediating function between the ego and the outer world, so the anima or animus is a mediating function between the ego and the inner world. They lead the way in one’s spiritual development--just as Dante was led by Beatrice in his vision of ultimate truth. Thus the contrasexual psychic (anima/animus) entity also serves a positive function, and plays an important role in the journey toward wholeness." (Jung and Christianity: The Structure of the Psyche p22-23
"Other archetypal images are frequently encountered in the individuation process. Among these are the archetype of the great mother, the archetype of the spiritual father, the archetype of transformation, and what might be called the central archetype, which expresses psychic wholeness or totality: the archetype of the self." (Jung and Christianity: The Structure of the Psyche p22-23
Conclusion
These two stories are "ongoing". By the time this paper is read, both subjects will have advanced and changed because of their new experiences of the self. But this paper, a snap-shot in time of their spiritual and psychological growth, gives us a glimpse of how their God-imaging and self-imaging are dynamically related. Their real parents were key, but all their new "community parents" also have keys to unlock their hearts to God.
We are all reflecting images for good or ill to one another: Husbands are mirrors for their wives as wives for their husbands; brothers for their sisters, sisters for their brothers, pastors for their parishioners, the Church for the faithful, the faithful for their clergy, fathers and mothers for their sons and daughters. St. Theresa of Lisieux’s growth in the spiritual life was a mirror of how she saw herself as her father’s "little princess". So, too, she saw God as her Father who considered her His little princess. She dared to crawl up in God’s eternal lap with such familiarity as to almost treat God as an equal in her bold intimacy with Him. As she saw herself mirrored in her own dad, so she advanced spiritually with the confidence of a princess who had as good a God-image and self-image as any little girl could possibly have. Thus our image of self and our God-image are dynamically linked for belief or unbelief, trust or mistrust, intimacy or alienation, self esteem or low/no esteem, care for others or self absorption, subservience or dominance, capacity to love or not to love, safety to move successfully through the stages of life or to remain stagnated -- from early childhood of differentiation and identification to the later generative stage of caring for the community and finally letting go, having reached integrity in old age.
As our male subject’s image of himself changes, so does his identity of self change. And as that changes, so does his God-image. By parenting him, the community now mirrors for him a better image of himself than he saw as a child. He can begin to move out of pseudo safety, dare to set sail on a new adventure, and become the marvelous person God intended him to be. He can grow in his special relationship with God who is becoming more known with each new experience of his true self.
How does all this relate to our ministry:
Because of the inter-relatedness of Theology, Spirituality and Psychology, human and spiritual growth are moving together synergistically in the human person’s spiritual and personal growth.
Since Karl Rahner’s words: "The more fully human one becomes, the more God is taking hold" are being fulfilled contextually in the lives of both subjects of this study and can be experienced as true in their and our own very selves, then ministry must be multi-deminsional. Our awareness must be heightened:
We must be very aware of what we are mirroring to others about themselves. Are we mirroring as Jesus did the woman at the well: "I will give you living waters that well up within you." The adulterous woman: "Neither do I condemn you." Peter:"Do you love me, Peter?" Nathaniel: "Here is a man without guile." Judas: "Do you betray with a kiss?" For my ministry and yours, the most central thing from this course is that we are co-creating each day the image people have of themselves; and this will have dramatic effects on their God-imaging and faith in God.
Peace and love, Pio
Pio's Proverb 202: Prophets: old and new and you!
This blog was written on April 13, 1998 as a class assignment reflection for Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. I hope it speaks to your heart. I consider Fr. Paul's class the best of my classes. God bless, Fr. Paul. Perhaps we are all called by the Holy Spirit to be a "Prophetic Voice for the Church"!...as Fr. Jim told me this summer that God has called me to be. If He is calling me; then He is calling thee!
Pope Benedict XVI said this on September 22, 2012:
"Yet, in the face of this situation, Christians are called to act and express themselves with a prophetic spirit capable of seeing in these tranformations the unceasing and mysterious presence of God in history - and thus to shoulder their newly emerging responsiblitites with realism, confidenc, and hope."
Extra. Reflect 3: Pio: 4-13-98 Prophets - how they affect us now in our ministry.
This course - my first on the Old Testament Prophets - has taught me much for ministry today:
(1) That the Prophetic texts, themselves, have been redacted in order to actualize them for later situations and times and that still, these redactions are part of the Jewish canons of Holy Scripture. So, too, we as ministers - ordained or lay - must be able to actualize these text for our own day.
(2) That we learn from all these encounters between God and His prophets and with the chosen people of Jerusalem and Israel, just what God is like and why he acts in the way He does. And What is God like? He is in the answer given by Jonah: "The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children, to the third and fourth generation." So, God is so merciful to those who turn toward Him and a God of retribution to those who hate Him. "The implied point...is that if God’s forgiveness is available to the most wicked people imaginable, then surely it is available to repentant Jews." (Ward). What of the Hitlers and Saddam Husseins of our own day? If they had any remorse and turned to God, God will forgive them. God acts compassionately on those who are helpless and weak. Does not any father help his weak children? How much more so God?
(3) That God strongly counters all the false beliefs, arrogance, self righteousness of believers, corruption in high places and in individuals (like Nathan sent to David) of each generation. He counters by sending His prophets to carry His word - by His sending us in this our day. The counter-cultural message of Pope John Paul in the youth rally in Denver was seen by the Protestants as exactly that. The news media reported the Pope’s message to youth as "counter-cultural". We must follow the lead of this modern day prophet.
(4) That God chooses whom He wills and when he wills to do a special work for a special time or task. First there is the encounter between God and the chosen prophet. This encounter is in itself the Prophet of prophets - God, Himself - who is speaking His own Word on His own behalf to an audience of one - the would be prophet. We learn even from the responses of the prophets and we act like them too. We tend to respond or feel like these chosen prophets felt - that we are not equal to the task - or just not pure enough for the task - or just not old enough for the task - or perhaps too old for the task - or just not articulate enough for the task - and for sure not worthy of the task. How does God respond? God seems to be able to adapt to any disposition with great Wisdom and persuasion - He send hot coals to purify lips, makes the prophet eat the word of God like honey. . . . .even re-inspires His Words when Kings burn them. Our God is very adaptive and proactive. He is engaging and awesome - has a sense of humor in whom He chooses. What I learned is that these chosen prophets were transformed by the Word of God - became more loving of God and more courageous - having the Holy Spirit of courage within them. We should trust in that same Holy Spirit when we are called by the community to go out and preach the Good News by our words, action, and very lives. We have that same Spirit that was given to these great prophets of old. We are called at our baptism into Christ to be prophets to all the nations - that we meet in our community.
Pope Benedict XVI said this on September 22, 2012:
"Yet, in the face of this situation, Christians are called to act and express themselves with a prophetic spirit capable of seeing in these tranformations the unceasing and mysterious presence of God in history - and thus to shoulder their newly emerging responsiblitites with realism, confidenc, and hope."
Extra. Reflect 3: Pio: 4-13-98 Prophets - how they affect us now in our ministry.
This course - my first on the Old Testament Prophets - has taught me much for ministry today:
(1) That the Prophetic texts, themselves, have been redacted in order to actualize them for later situations and times and that still, these redactions are part of the Jewish canons of Holy Scripture. So, too, we as ministers - ordained or lay - must be able to actualize these text for our own day.
(2) That we learn from all these encounters between God and His prophets and with the chosen people of Jerusalem and Israel, just what God is like and why he acts in the way He does. And What is God like? He is in the answer given by Jonah: "The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children, to the third and fourth generation." So, God is so merciful to those who turn toward Him and a God of retribution to those who hate Him. "The implied point...is that if God’s forgiveness is available to the most wicked people imaginable, then surely it is available to repentant Jews." (Ward). What of the Hitlers and Saddam Husseins of our own day? If they had any remorse and turned to God, God will forgive them. God acts compassionately on those who are helpless and weak. Does not any father help his weak children? How much more so God?
(3) That God strongly counters all the false beliefs, arrogance, self righteousness of believers, corruption in high places and in individuals (like Nathan sent to David) of each generation. He counters by sending His prophets to carry His word - by His sending us in this our day. The counter-cultural message of Pope John Paul in the youth rally in Denver was seen by the Protestants as exactly that. The news media reported the Pope’s message to youth as "counter-cultural". We must follow the lead of this modern day prophet.
(4) That God chooses whom He wills and when he wills to do a special work for a special time or task. First there is the encounter between God and the chosen prophet. This encounter is in itself the Prophet of prophets - God, Himself - who is speaking His own Word on His own behalf to an audience of one - the would be prophet. We learn even from the responses of the prophets and we act like them too. We tend to respond or feel like these chosen prophets felt - that we are not equal to the task - or just not pure enough for the task - or just not old enough for the task - or perhaps too old for the task - or just not articulate enough for the task - and for sure not worthy of the task. How does God respond? God seems to be able to adapt to any disposition with great Wisdom and persuasion - He send hot coals to purify lips, makes the prophet eat the word of God like honey. . . . .even re-inspires His Words when Kings burn them. Our God is very adaptive and proactive. He is engaging and awesome - has a sense of humor in whom He chooses. What I learned is that these chosen prophets were transformed by the Word of God - became more loving of God and more courageous - having the Holy Spirit of courage within them. We should trust in that same Holy Spirit when we are called by the community to go out and preach the Good News by our words, action, and very lives. We have that same Spirit that was given to these great prophets of old. We are called at our baptism into Christ to be prophets to all the nations - that we meet in our community.
(5) That all the prophets point to THE PROPHET - Jesus Christ: On the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-15), when Jesus caught up to those walking about seven miles from Jerusalem, Jesus pretended to know nothing. Those walking responded to Jesus: "‘Are you the only resident of Jerusalem who does not know the things that went on there these past few days?" He said to them, ‘What things?" (They said) ‘All that had to do with Jesus of Nazareth, a PROPHET, powerful in word and deed in the eyes of God and all the people.’." What a perfect description of Jesus, and He was listening to it. The O. T. Prophets’ encounter with God has come full circle now in Jesus. This Jesus is the greatest Prophet of God - whom all the prophets pointed to in some aspect - and even today as we read the Scripture encounters us as we walk along our lives pondering all that has happened in the Paschal Mystery. In Jesus, we can clearly hear our call to be prophets. And "What things" is He asking of us?
(6) That if we are truly called to be prophets, then we are surely called to suffering. All the O.T. prophets and Jesus suffered in being sent unto the nations who would not listen! To the nations who responded to good by malicious plotting to kill the messengers of God. In so many prophets, God - in a mystical manner or in the circumstances of their lives - all felt God’s feelings -of knowing the infidelity and fickleness of God people, His Bride.
(7) That the O.T. prophets as well as Jesus are ALL models for us of great COURAGE and FIDELITY to God in holy OBEDIENCE. God’s Revelation of Himself to His prophets and revealing Himself in the through the prophets and in the Person of Jesus - all come to complete fruition - in holy and humble obedience. [Humility is that constant medicine against the disease of pride and self-righteousness.] So we also must have a humble and obedient heart - ever ready to be sent - even before knowing the whole of our mission. We need to be ready to say, "Yes" as did Mary without her knowing all that it would bring to us in suffering. Being a prophet and be obedient are inseparably linked. Obedience and faith are also linked. Faith and God are so closely linked that just the word "in" between them go together. Likewise God and Jesus are one and the same. And even we with Jesus are inseparably linked because of our adoption as sons of the one same Father. Jesus said obedience is better than sacrifice.
(8) That scholars have discerned an exact time in history - of the Babylonian exile - to which time and circumstance God sent His Word by calling chosen men who became great lovers of God by both hearing the Word and preaching it. So, too, we are called to restore to God all peoples - in this exact time of cultural death,
to go out into the deafness of society who don’t want to hear the Word of God on life issues, on peace, on moral responsibility - speaking the Word of God. So, too, are we called and plant the Word of God mightily in the midst of societal moral chaos. In so doing, we are to become the reality of the Words: "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." We need to fill the world with the goodness of God’s Word by living that Word. We can only do this by understanding our call to suffering - as were all the prophets and especially the greatest - Jesus. How are we to be ready? Firstly, we need to be where God can so easily find us best - in prayer - before the Holy Eucharist: where we meet God personally in faith. There is where we will hear clearly the call, and in community - we will be confirmed in that call - since community is where the Holy Spirit speaks most clearly. When we hear, we must change and be formed by the Word we hear.
(9) That we must know that those to whom we are sent are also called to all things restored in Christ. Even the Babylonians and Assyrians of our own day are called. We cannot smash those to whom we are sent, but need to be gentle as Jesus was - ever calling them with meekness - because getting all to the Father is our final goal of all we are called d to do. We are prophets. Let us be prophets and witness to the truth by our lives, by our words, by our deeds, by our faith and by our devotion to Jesus Christ - King and Prophet - Lord and God.
(10) And finally, that we - prophets - are bound together - ordained and lay - in the common call of the One God of the one mission to the restoration of the universe in Christ. We are part of it - our minds, our bodies, our spirits, our lives and our destinies - to witness with the fiber of our beings - God lives and loves and is our final end. In Christ, we are not called to ruin but to total life in God forever -and we must bring those to whom we are called to preach - with us! The greatest result of this class is that God has been walking us through history of His working the lives of many prophets and people of Israel to get us ready for our mission, to understand God more, to have courage to follow our call and to do so in holiness. The prophets of old were lovers of God who became holy. We cannot be true prophets of God without holiness of heart. Amen.
[Thanks, Fr. Paul, for the most important class I have taken for the M.A. The whole class was a prophetic message to all of us.]
Peace and love, Pio (November 16, 2012).
Peace and love, Pio (November 16, 2012).
Monday, November 12, 2012
Pio's Proverb's 201: Unforgiveable Sins!
Sins against the Holy Spirit are unforgiveable because they are against the graces of God's Mercy and Forgiveness. God honors our free will. He cannot and will not force our love or free will. Actually our free will is one of the ways we are created in God's image and likeness.
When I asked Fr. Bohdan Kosicki if God could forgive Adolf Hitler, Father said in a letter to me: "God's Mercy is greater than all the sins of the world!"
But if then God is all forgiving and merciful, would he not forgive even those unforgiveable sins against the Holy Spirit? Good question, God would forgive even those sins IF we repent of them and trust in God's mercy as our final act of the will. But the person who IS sinning against the Holy Spirit IS by his/her sin saying to God: "I do not want your forgiveness." If one dies with that free choice, then that person will have eternity to regret it in being totally separated from God forever! But we hope that as Judas was hanging himself, he turned to God for forgiveness before his last breath.
How are sins against the Holy Spirit manifested? How many are there?
Let me count them for you:
1) Despair - a great sin against the Holy Spirit - is giving up hope in God's goodness and mercy and making God into our own small image and likenss. Thus the despairing person makes God as too small to forgive him because the person does cannot forgive him/herself. Judas felt guilt because the devil -- after tempting Judas -- makes Judas feel overwhelming guilty so as not to have time to have sorrow for sin. Judas had guilt but not repentance. Jesus would have forgiven Judas immediatly if he came to Jesus in repentance. But that takes sorrow for sin and humility to ask for forgiveness. The devil is in despair and knows how to share his despairing feelings to get a person to commit suicide. St. Peter's sin was no less than Judas'; but Peter had compunction and sorrow and cried..and asked for forgiveness. For his penance, Jesus asked him to give a public act of Love three times. That was merciful...
2) Resistance and refusal to believe in a revealed truth: That God is a loving God and exists and loves us personally is resisted and refused belief by atheists. But if they repent - as many do - they will be forgiven. But if an atheists continues till death to not believe in and trust in and love God, he will have eternty to think about that great mistake and sin!
3) Refusal to admit a miracle that one sees in the lives of others:
When the Pharasees saw Jesus heal a man of blindness, they became upset and said he should not heal on the sabbath. They did the same for the man who was healed of lameness. They found fault in Jesus and try to make his act of the love - the Love of God - into a sin. Chosen blindness to an obvious miracle is a sin against the Holy Spirit. One atheists criticized Mother Teresa of Calcutta and called her "that short Abanian" and tried to put her down instead of seeing all the good she was doing that were modern miracles of charity.
4) Presumption is when a person says: "God is good and forgiving, so I can go on sinning and repent on my death bed." Well, God gives the grace of repentance when He gives it. We cannot schedule when God should give His graces. Presumption is like a man who has a most devoted wife who loves him so much and unconditionally; but he takes advantage of that and uses her love for him as an occasion to be unfaithful. She sees him go out at night all specially dressed; but he consoles himself that she will forgive him....The same if with God: We should not use His Mercy and Love to sin against Him..with reliance that we will repent later and be forgiven later. To use God's love and mercy to offend God is using God for one's own pleasure.
5) Envy of the spiritual goods of others. There was nun (superior of ther order) who would not let Bernadette Soubrous' (St. Bernadette) memoirs/spiritual writings to be published or known till 10 years after that that envious nun died. Envy is feeling that someone elses graces take away from our own: which is a delusion. We all have our graces from God to get to heaven and do His will.
6) Attributing God's work to the devil. When Jesus cast out a devil from a boy, the Pharasees said: "By the prince of devils you cast out devils!" Jesus said it was by the "finger of God" that the devil was case out. And Jesus seeing that they had attributed his good work to the devil instead of the Holy Spirit, said: "You will die in your sins!" because they had attributed to the devil what He did with the Holy Spirit.
7) Final unrepentance. When Errol Flynn on his death bed was offered a priest to pray with him, bless and obsolve him of his sins, he refused and said: "Give me my wine, women and song!" There are many who say: "I would rather burn in hell than forgive that person who offended me!"
But there was a man who almost did the same thing. He was a sailor who had been hurt on deck from enemy fire. The priest came to his side and told him that he only had a few moments to live and would he like to go to confession. The sailor said: "Father, I have three girl friends. They all know it. I am intimate with all three at the same time. I am simply not sorry.
The priest knowing that this was the last opportunity to bring this person to heaven, made a loving jesture and said: "Well, now, are you "sorry" that you are NOT sorry?" The sailor said: "Yes, I am sorry for not being sorry." With that the priest gave the man absolution and then the sailor died.
You might wish to read about John Wayne in my blog: "God shoe-string catch of John Wayne." But Maureen Ohara brought that about. And God sent her; and she played her best role in converting John Wayne to become Catholic just 3 day before he died. He had not even been baptized; but he became so becasue Maureen Ohara...was the angel God sent to him to bring him to heaven.
May the Holy Spirit show us where we are sinning against Him in our lives -- before it is too late..
Peace and love,
Pio
When I asked Fr. Bohdan Kosicki if God could forgive Adolf Hitler, Father said in a letter to me: "God's Mercy is greater than all the sins of the world!"
But if then God is all forgiving and merciful, would he not forgive even those unforgiveable sins against the Holy Spirit? Good question, God would forgive even those sins IF we repent of them and trust in God's mercy as our final act of the will. But the person who IS sinning against the Holy Spirit IS by his/her sin saying to God: "I do not want your forgiveness." If one dies with that free choice, then that person will have eternity to regret it in being totally separated from God forever! But we hope that as Judas was hanging himself, he turned to God for forgiveness before his last breath.
How are sins against the Holy Spirit manifested? How many are there?
Let me count them for you:
1) Despair - a great sin against the Holy Spirit - is giving up hope in God's goodness and mercy and making God into our own small image and likenss. Thus the despairing person makes God as too small to forgive him because the person does cannot forgive him/herself. Judas felt guilt because the devil -- after tempting Judas -- makes Judas feel overwhelming guilty so as not to have time to have sorrow for sin. Judas had guilt but not repentance. Jesus would have forgiven Judas immediatly if he came to Jesus in repentance. But that takes sorrow for sin and humility to ask for forgiveness. The devil is in despair and knows how to share his despairing feelings to get a person to commit suicide. St. Peter's sin was no less than Judas'; but Peter had compunction and sorrow and cried..and asked for forgiveness. For his penance, Jesus asked him to give a public act of Love three times. That was merciful...
2) Resistance and refusal to believe in a revealed truth: That God is a loving God and exists and loves us personally is resisted and refused belief by atheists. But if they repent - as many do - they will be forgiven. But if an atheists continues till death to not believe in and trust in and love God, he will have eternty to think about that great mistake and sin!
3) Refusal to admit a miracle that one sees in the lives of others:
When the Pharasees saw Jesus heal a man of blindness, they became upset and said he should not heal on the sabbath. They did the same for the man who was healed of lameness. They found fault in Jesus and try to make his act of the love - the Love of God - into a sin. Chosen blindness to an obvious miracle is a sin against the Holy Spirit. One atheists criticized Mother Teresa of Calcutta and called her "that short Abanian" and tried to put her down instead of seeing all the good she was doing that were modern miracles of charity.
4) Presumption is when a person says: "God is good and forgiving, so I can go on sinning and repent on my death bed." Well, God gives the grace of repentance when He gives it. We cannot schedule when God should give His graces. Presumption is like a man who has a most devoted wife who loves him so much and unconditionally; but he takes advantage of that and uses her love for him as an occasion to be unfaithful. She sees him go out at night all specially dressed; but he consoles himself that she will forgive him....The same if with God: We should not use His Mercy and Love to sin against Him..with reliance that we will repent later and be forgiven later. To use God's love and mercy to offend God is using God for one's own pleasure.
5) Envy of the spiritual goods of others. There was nun (superior of ther order) who would not let Bernadette Soubrous' (St. Bernadette) memoirs/spiritual writings to be published or known till 10 years after that that envious nun died. Envy is feeling that someone elses graces take away from our own: which is a delusion. We all have our graces from God to get to heaven and do His will.
6) Attributing God's work to the devil. When Jesus cast out a devil from a boy, the Pharasees said: "By the prince of devils you cast out devils!" Jesus said it was by the "finger of God" that the devil was case out. And Jesus seeing that they had attributed his good work to the devil instead of the Holy Spirit, said: "You will die in your sins!" because they had attributed to the devil what He did with the Holy Spirit.
7) Final unrepentance. When Errol Flynn on his death bed was offered a priest to pray with him, bless and obsolve him of his sins, he refused and said: "Give me my wine, women and song!" There are many who say: "I would rather burn in hell than forgive that person who offended me!"
But there was a man who almost did the same thing. He was a sailor who had been hurt on deck from enemy fire. The priest came to his side and told him that he only had a few moments to live and would he like to go to confession. The sailor said: "Father, I have three girl friends. They all know it. I am intimate with all three at the same time. I am simply not sorry.
The priest knowing that this was the last opportunity to bring this person to heaven, made a loving jesture and said: "Well, now, are you "sorry" that you are NOT sorry?" The sailor said: "Yes, I am sorry for not being sorry." With that the priest gave the man absolution and then the sailor died.
You might wish to read about John Wayne in my blog: "God shoe-string catch of John Wayne." But Maureen Ohara brought that about. And God sent her; and she played her best role in converting John Wayne to become Catholic just 3 day before he died. He had not even been baptized; but he became so becasue Maureen Ohara...was the angel God sent to him to bring him to heaven.
May the Holy Spirit show us where we are sinning against Him in our lives -- before it is too late..
Peace and love,
Pio
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Pio's Proverb 200: "False Abstractions"
Gabriel Honore' Marcel -- Born in Paris on December 7, 1889 and died in Paris October 8, 1973 -- was a French Philosopher, a leading Chrsitan Existentialist who wrote 30 plays and focused on the modern indivdual's struggle with techonolical dehumanizing Society. Sounds like exactly where Society is today as well.
Besides plays, Gabriel wrote books: notably his book: "Man Against Mass Society" which was required reading for my degree in Philosophy.
IN that famous book, Gabriel succintly and brilliantly defined and described what he called: "False Abstractions". This concept is more needed today than any time in history.
From memory, I will try to give you an updated definition based on his basic concept:
A "false abstraction" is a delusion which is a false belief based on illogical assumptions that appear right to the thinker but are in fact ontologically false and intrinsically evil.
Here a few examples from history.
a) Heads rolled for the concepts of "equalite", fraternite’ and liberte" but you would not have been able to find a Frenchman who knew what those words meant in the context of cutting thousands of aristocrats in two - which were acts diametrically opposed to those three concepts. (Gabriel Marcel's example).
b) "Pure Arianism" and the slogan "forward" and "final solution" were the banner concepts that allowed Hitler to pass laws making it legal to kills Jews and Poles (Non Arians). Besides the four millions of poles who died in the Nazi occupation of Poland, 6 million Jews were killed in the Concentration Camps. But even worse, 350 German civilians volunteered to shoot/execute Jews within the city limits. For Hitler, rights were "endowed not by the Creator" but by the State; and Hitler was the State. The courts of Nuremberg exposed his "false abstractions"/delusions.
c) Our present day concept of "pro-choice" annihilates the fetus’s right to life which is guaranteed under the 14th Amendment: "no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law." In the last 38 years, 51 million fetuses have lost their lives in the USA as well as 400 million in China. The USA is only second to China in abortions. But the ontological fact is that none of those 451 million fetuses had any choice at all. The Michigan Health Code has a section on abortion. I have a full copy of that code. I quote it: "..in abortion, the fetus, homo sapiens, is killed." Thus our own State of Michigan has defined a fetus as a person, "homo sapiens." The 14th Amendment should protect that fetus-person’s life. Science also has defined human life to exist at Conception - not a potential person; but a true person: body and soul. That fact has changed Dr. Nathanson from an abortion doctor to an ardent pro-life advocate and lecturer. Additionally, according to international law, a fetus can inherit an estate...but cannot inherit his/her own life. Thus "pro-choice" is a "false abstraction" and that - like all of the above - is intrinsically evil.
d) The KKK cried "White Supremacy" and killed many African Americans because of this concept because of the belief (delusions) that Black people were not really totally human. Seems that Geneticists have recently proven that concept totally false through DNA - "that all people on the earth – and all who ever lived – have all come from or can be traced to just one woman." How sad that the KKK in white hoods were busy about killing and hanging their own brothers! But that is typical of "false abstractions" which remove their followers from reality and human decency and seeing the dignity of all human personhood. False abstractions are on a continuum: They can begin small but at the extreme right end up taking lives.
e) President Obama said in his first debate that the goal of Government is to "keep everyone safe." That is a "false abstraction" because he gives $500 million a year to Planned Parenthood to kill babies in the womb. He does not keep those 1.2 million babies a year safe. 60% of those abortion clinics are situated in low-income Black neigborhoods. A neice of Martin Luther King , Jr. said: "Defund Planned Parenthood because how can we have "the dream" if we are killing our kids." She surely has that right..and is perfectly right-on true!
So, in light of all these examples, let us see this formula:
False Abstraction = false belief = a delusion = intrinsic evil.
Peace and love,
Pio
Besides plays, Gabriel wrote books: notably his book: "Man Against Mass Society" which was required reading for my degree in Philosophy.
IN that famous book, Gabriel succintly and brilliantly defined and described what he called: "False Abstractions". This concept is more needed today than any time in history.
From memory, I will try to give you an updated definition based on his basic concept:
A "false abstraction" is a delusion which is a false belief based on illogical assumptions that appear right to the thinker but are in fact ontologically false and intrinsically evil.
Here a few examples from history.
a) Heads rolled for the concepts of "equalite", fraternite’ and liberte" but you would not have been able to find a Frenchman who knew what those words meant in the context of cutting thousands of aristocrats in two - which were acts diametrically opposed to those three concepts. (Gabriel Marcel's example).
b) "Pure Arianism" and the slogan "forward" and "final solution" were the banner concepts that allowed Hitler to pass laws making it legal to kills Jews and Poles (Non Arians). Besides the four millions of poles who died in the Nazi occupation of Poland, 6 million Jews were killed in the Concentration Camps. But even worse, 350 German civilians volunteered to shoot/execute Jews within the city limits. For Hitler, rights were "endowed not by the Creator" but by the State; and Hitler was the State. The courts of Nuremberg exposed his "false abstractions"/delusions.
c) Our present day concept of "pro-choice" annihilates the fetus’s right to life which is guaranteed under the 14th Amendment: "no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law." In the last 38 years, 51 million fetuses have lost their lives in the USA as well as 400 million in China. The USA is only second to China in abortions. But the ontological fact is that none of those 451 million fetuses had any choice at all. The Michigan Health Code has a section on abortion. I have a full copy of that code. I quote it: "..in abortion, the fetus, homo sapiens, is killed." Thus our own State of Michigan has defined a fetus as a person, "homo sapiens." The 14th Amendment should protect that fetus-person’s life. Science also has defined human life to exist at Conception - not a potential person; but a true person: body and soul. That fact has changed Dr. Nathanson from an abortion doctor to an ardent pro-life advocate and lecturer. Additionally, according to international law, a fetus can inherit an estate...but cannot inherit his/her own life. Thus "pro-choice" is a "false abstraction" and that - like all of the above - is intrinsically evil.
d) The KKK cried "White Supremacy" and killed many African Americans because of this concept because of the belief (delusions) that Black people were not really totally human. Seems that Geneticists have recently proven that concept totally false through DNA - "that all people on the earth – and all who ever lived – have all come from or can be traced to just one woman." How sad that the KKK in white hoods were busy about killing and hanging their own brothers! But that is typical of "false abstractions" which remove their followers from reality and human decency and seeing the dignity of all human personhood. False abstractions are on a continuum: They can begin small but at the extreme right end up taking lives.
e) President Obama said in his first debate that the goal of Government is to "keep everyone safe." That is a "false abstraction" because he gives $500 million a year to Planned Parenthood to kill babies in the womb. He does not keep those 1.2 million babies a year safe. 60% of those abortion clinics are situated in low-income Black neigborhoods. A neice of Martin Luther King , Jr. said: "Defund Planned Parenthood because how can we have "the dream" if we are killing our kids." She surely has that right..and is perfectly right-on true!
So, in light of all these examples, let us see this formula:
False Abstraction = false belief = a delusion = intrinsic evil.
Peace and love,
Pio
Pio's Proverb 199" "Pay it Forward"!
Do you remember the successful movie (earned $33 Million) called "Pay it forward" that came out in October of 2000 staring: Helen Hunt, Jim Caviezel, Jon Bon Jone?
I was delighted seeing it when it camae out and thought the story line to be clever and very Christian. Of course you have heard of the golden rule: "Do onto others as you would them to do unto you." Well, this movie says: "Do good onto others as others HAVE done good unto you." Thus any good done unto us needs to be paid forward to others who are unrelated to the good done unto us. For example, in the movie, a man needs a ride...and the owner of the porche not only gives him a ride but gives him the entire vehicle as well! Now seems that the ower of the vehicle had been the recipient of a great agenerous gift. Well, he paid that great gift forward by giving away his porche to a stranger in need!
Well, if this principle is true and Christian, what about all the good that our parents, children, teachers, priests, religious and friends have done for us? How do we pay all that forward!
Here is how a young man named Ken who had been adopted did it:
At age 14, Ken decided to one day pay forward the kindness that his adopted parents did for him. He was determined to adopt a child when he got married. It is interesting how Ken's story became public. Seems there was a talk show on radio going on where there was a heated debate if a child conceived in rape should be aborted or not. The sides were very adamant on both sides. Ken called in and changed the whole tone of the debate. He said that as a teenager he would seek out his birth mother to thank her for having him. It turns out that she had been raped by a man who threatened her life if she revealed his identity to anyone. So, she still could not bring herself to tell Ken, her son, who his father is. But she decided since her child did not do anything wrong being a baby that she would have him and give him life and make sure he was cared for by being adopted.
Ken did get married some years later and adopted a special premature girl who had special needs. He had three other children of his own. When relating his story to the talk show, his voice broke twice as his emotions became too much for him. He then said that he called in to give those babies in the womb a voice because they had no voice. He told the radio audience how much he loved his special little adopted daughter. (as told on EWTN)
Seems that Ken paid forward the love he had received from his birth mother, his adopted parents, and the Love of God in his life.
Everyday God shows His Love for us in some new way.
Here is how I feel we all can share forward the love we have received, too:
1) Love others for their own sake not what you can get back from them.
2) Be kind to strangers you meet on the street. I met one today while walking to Mass...he came with me and went to Mass too...and was hungry to I made him a nice meal. He was grateful and racked my leaves...I let him so that he would have the joy of giving. I helped him and we worked together. He was quite hungry - cleaned the dish...had lots of milk and I gave him something to drink to take with him. Dave was a gift and a grace...he did look homeless....but he was an angel in many respects.
3) Pray for others....counsel and guide the young...give an encouraging
word whenever possible.
4) Try to model and teach COURAGE to others from your heart and life:
Here is some good thoughts about courage from my own life experience:
In my time of 74 years, I have seen a lot. When I was in high school Seminary, Pope Pius XII was in Rome. I even was able to vote for President Kennedy after seeing the his debate with Nixon. I did not vote for Nixon because I told my class mates at University of Detroit that "deep down inside Nixon at his center there was no executor". History proved me right. Even Jesus said to his adversaries who would not listen to reason: "Time will prove where wisdom lies."
Inside President Kennedy there was a true and great person who loved courage in all arenas of life. He was a hero in WWII as a PT Boat Captain and knew courage meant putting your life on the line which in the end he did. I have all the papers for the week when he died. I remember how silent the whole room came to be at Ford Motor Company’s Body engineering: all phones went dead and small groups gathered to mourn our fallen beloved President.
Here are some of his ideas...especially the last page in his Pulitzer Prize in literature book: "Profiles in Courage":
Here is what I read in that book on the last page of his Profiles in Courage, a Pulitzer Prize for literature winner: "In whatever area in life one may meet the challenges of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience - the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men - each man must decide for himself the course he will follow. The stories of past courage can define that ingredient - they can teach, they can offer hope, they can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul."[p. 266]
"Courage is the virtue that President Kennedy most admired. He sought out those people who had demonstrated in some way, whether it was on a battlefield or a baseball diamond, in a speech or fighting for a cause, that they had courage that they would stand up, that they could be counted on." [Robert F. Kennedy's Foreword, p. 9]
"The true democracy, living and growing and inspiring, puts its faith in the people - faith that the people will not simply elect men who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but will also elect men who will exercise their conscientious judgment - faith that the people will not condemn those whose devotion to principle leads them to unpopular courses, but will reward courage, respect honor, and ultimately recognize right." [p. 264]
"For in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, 'hold office'; everyone of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve." [p. 265"For without belittling the courage with which men have died, we should not forget those acts of courage with which men - such as the subjects of this book - have lived ." [p. 266]
"A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality." [p. 266]
-John F. Kennedy
Profiles in Courage
Yes, for that courage, let us all look down into our own souls - where God dwells.5) Love others for their own sake unconditionally. 6) Since your parents changed your diapers so many times, be patient with the unpleasant faults of others. Love the unlikeable. 7) For God's sake be kind to everyone God sends into your life. Amen.
Peace and love, Pio
Bio: Pio Peter Zammit, age 74, father of 6 children and 15 grandchildren offers unique perspectives and life experiences to this case:
1) BA in Philosophy, St. Joseph College, Rensselaer, Indiana;
2) MA in Psychology and post-graduate work in Psychopathology, UDM;
3) Graduate and Under-graduate diplomas in Theology/Pastoral Ministry (summa cum laude), Sacred Heart Major Seminary;
4) 3 years of UD Law school/alumnus (Ford Motor Scholarship): Plaintiff was appointed "Chief Justice" by and for UD Moot Court - twice .
5) Retired with "outstanding performance review" after 34 years with the Ford Motor Company, Body Engineering, as Program Analyst B.
6) Invited to work in the legal department at Ford Motor Company, World Headquarters, 1972.
7)Trained by the Archdiocese of Detroit: gave the Plaintiff experience with "criminal justice" by working in prison ministry for 5 years in Scott Correctional Facility, also in Detroit prison system and in Macomb County correctional system.
I was delighted seeing it when it camae out and thought the story line to be clever and very Christian. Of course you have heard of the golden rule: "Do onto others as you would them to do unto you." Well, this movie says: "Do good onto others as others HAVE done good unto you." Thus any good done unto us needs to be paid forward to others who are unrelated to the good done unto us. For example, in the movie, a man needs a ride...and the owner of the porche not only gives him a ride but gives him the entire vehicle as well! Now seems that the ower of the vehicle had been the recipient of a great agenerous gift. Well, he paid that great gift forward by giving away his porche to a stranger in need!
Well, if this principle is true and Christian, what about all the good that our parents, children, teachers, priests, religious and friends have done for us? How do we pay all that forward!
Here is how a young man named Ken who had been adopted did it:
At age 14, Ken decided to one day pay forward the kindness that his adopted parents did for him. He was determined to adopt a child when he got married. It is interesting how Ken's story became public. Seems there was a talk show on radio going on where there was a heated debate if a child conceived in rape should be aborted or not. The sides were very adamant on both sides. Ken called in and changed the whole tone of the debate. He said that as a teenager he would seek out his birth mother to thank her for having him. It turns out that she had been raped by a man who threatened her life if she revealed his identity to anyone. So, she still could not bring herself to tell Ken, her son, who his father is. But she decided since her child did not do anything wrong being a baby that she would have him and give him life and make sure he was cared for by being adopted.
Ken did get married some years later and adopted a special premature girl who had special needs. He had three other children of his own. When relating his story to the talk show, his voice broke twice as his emotions became too much for him. He then said that he called in to give those babies in the womb a voice because they had no voice. He told the radio audience how much he loved his special little adopted daughter. (as told on EWTN)
Seems that Ken paid forward the love he had received from his birth mother, his adopted parents, and the Love of God in his life.
Everyday God shows His Love for us in some new way.
Here is how I feel we all can share forward the love we have received, too:
1) Love others for their own sake not what you can get back from them.
2) Be kind to strangers you meet on the street. I met one today while walking to Mass...he came with me and went to Mass too...and was hungry to I made him a nice meal. He was grateful and racked my leaves...I let him so that he would have the joy of giving. I helped him and we worked together. He was quite hungry - cleaned the dish...had lots of milk and I gave him something to drink to take with him. Dave was a gift and a grace...he did look homeless....but he was an angel in many respects.
3) Pray for others....counsel and guide the young...give an encouraging
word whenever possible.
4) Try to model and teach COURAGE to others from your heart and life:
Here is some good thoughts about courage from my own life experience:
In my time of 74 years, I have seen a lot. When I was in high school Seminary, Pope Pius XII was in Rome. I even was able to vote for President Kennedy after seeing the his debate with Nixon. I did not vote for Nixon because I told my class mates at University of Detroit that "deep down inside Nixon at his center there was no executor". History proved me right. Even Jesus said to his adversaries who would not listen to reason: "Time will prove where wisdom lies."
Inside President Kennedy there was a true and great person who loved courage in all arenas of life. He was a hero in WWII as a PT Boat Captain and knew courage meant putting your life on the line which in the end he did. I have all the papers for the week when he died. I remember how silent the whole room came to be at Ford Motor Company’s Body engineering: all phones went dead and small groups gathered to mourn our fallen beloved President.
Here are some of his ideas...especially the last page in his Pulitzer Prize in literature book: "Profiles in Courage":
Here is what I read in that book on the last page of his Profiles in Courage, a Pulitzer Prize for literature winner: "In whatever area in life one may meet the challenges of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience - the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men - each man must decide for himself the course he will follow. The stories of past courage can define that ingredient - they can teach, they can offer hope, they can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul."[p. 266]
"Courage is the virtue that President Kennedy most admired. He sought out those people who had demonstrated in some way, whether it was on a battlefield or a baseball diamond, in a speech or fighting for a cause, that they had courage that they would stand up, that they could be counted on." [Robert F. Kennedy's Foreword, p. 9]
"The true democracy, living and growing and inspiring, puts its faith in the people - faith that the people will not simply elect men who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but will also elect men who will exercise their conscientious judgment - faith that the people will not condemn those whose devotion to principle leads them to unpopular courses, but will reward courage, respect honor, and ultimately recognize right." [p. 264]
"For in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, 'hold office'; everyone of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve." [p. 265"For without belittling the courage with which men have died, we should not forget those acts of courage with which men - such as the subjects of this book - have lived ." [p. 266]
"A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality." [p. 266]
-John F. Kennedy
Profiles in Courage
Yes, for that courage, let us all look down into our own souls - where God dwells.5) Love others for their own sake unconditionally. 6) Since your parents changed your diapers so many times, be patient with the unpleasant faults of others. Love the unlikeable. 7) For God's sake be kind to everyone God sends into your life. Amen.
Peace and love, Pio
Bio: Pio Peter Zammit, age 74, father of 6 children and 15 grandchildren offers unique perspectives and life experiences to this case:
1) BA in Philosophy, St. Joseph College, Rensselaer, Indiana;
2) MA in Psychology and post-graduate work in Psychopathology, UDM;
3) Graduate and Under-graduate diplomas in Theology/Pastoral Ministry (summa cum laude), Sacred Heart Major Seminary;
4) 3 years of UD Law school/alumnus (Ford Motor Scholarship): Plaintiff was appointed "Chief Justice" by and for UD Moot Court - twice .
5) Retired with "outstanding performance review" after 34 years with the Ford Motor Company, Body Engineering, as Program Analyst B.
6) Invited to work in the legal department at Ford Motor Company, World Headquarters, 1972.
7)Trained by the Archdiocese of Detroit: gave the Plaintiff experience with "criminal justice" by working in prison ministry for 5 years in Scott Correctional Facility, also in Detroit prison system and in Macomb County correctional system.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Pio's Proverb 198: LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS!
Today's Sunday Gospel sums up the whole Bible and the Kingdom of God. In response to one of the scribes who asked Jesus "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied:
"This is the first:
Hear, O Israiel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! Therefore you shall love the Lord your God
With all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength,
This is the second,
You shal love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
[Mark 12: 28-31]
All the social/political woes, all wars, all killing of the innocent in the womb or out of the womb, all defrauding, all false advertising, all malicious lies and behaviors, all jealousy, all envy, all theft of other's good name, or their goods or their wives or husbands, all child abuse, all adult abuse, all chosen aetheism: ALL are the results of forgetting or throwing aside what Jesus said in those words.
Those Great Words of Jesus were theologically digested by someone who is almost synonimous with Love. He is the "disciple Jesus loved."
Yes, Jesus had a Beloved Disciple: St. John, the only disciple who had the courage to stand under the cross because true love [agape] is love unto death. John was a man of love.
Let us see the best ever written theology of Love by Jesus' Beloved Disciple: St. John who knew Love to its greatest depth that any only human man has:
"Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God. The man without love has known nothing of God, for God is love. God's love was revealed in our midst in this way: He sent his only Son to the world that we might have life through him. Love, then, consists in this: not that we have loved God, but that he has loved us and has sent his Son as an offering for our sins.
Beloved, if God has loved us to, we must have the same love for one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet if we love one another God dwells in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. The way we know we remain in him and he in us is that he has given us of His Spirit. When anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.
God is love,
and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. Our love is brought to perfection in this that we should have confidence on the day of judgment.....Love has no room for fear; rather, perfect love casts out all fear...Love is not yet perfect in one who is afraid."
[1 John 4: 717]
-----------------------------------
Jesus spoke of Love. John spoke of the Love Jesus brought us.
Please read those words slowly by Jesus and John..because the Spirit will detonate them for you...and show you their total and true meaning for your life...because LOVE'S ALL THAT MATTERS!
Much Love and Peace,
Pio November 4, 2012
"This is the first:
Hear, O Israiel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! Therefore you shall love the Lord your God
With all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength,
This is the second,
You shal love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
[Mark 12: 28-31]
All the social/political woes, all wars, all killing of the innocent in the womb or out of the womb, all defrauding, all false advertising, all malicious lies and behaviors, all jealousy, all envy, all theft of other's good name, or their goods or their wives or husbands, all child abuse, all adult abuse, all chosen aetheism: ALL are the results of forgetting or throwing aside what Jesus said in those words.
Those Great Words of Jesus were theologically digested by someone who is almost synonimous with Love. He is the "disciple Jesus loved."
Yes, Jesus had a Beloved Disciple: St. John, the only disciple who had the courage to stand under the cross because true love [agape] is love unto death. John was a man of love.
Let us see the best ever written theology of Love by Jesus' Beloved Disciple: St. John who knew Love to its greatest depth that any only human man has:
"Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God. The man without love has known nothing of God, for God is love. God's love was revealed in our midst in this way: He sent his only Son to the world that we might have life through him. Love, then, consists in this: not that we have loved God, but that he has loved us and has sent his Son as an offering for our sins.
Beloved, if God has loved us to, we must have the same love for one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet if we love one another God dwells in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. The way we know we remain in him and he in us is that he has given us of His Spirit. When anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.
God is love,
and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. Our love is brought to perfection in this that we should have confidence on the day of judgment.....Love has no room for fear; rather, perfect love casts out all fear...Love is not yet perfect in one who is afraid."
[1 John 4: 717]
-----------------------------------
Jesus spoke of Love. John spoke of the Love Jesus brought us.
Please read those words slowly by Jesus and John..because the Spirit will detonate them for you...and show you their total and true meaning for your life...because LOVE'S ALL THAT MATTERS!
Much Love and Peace,
Pio November 4, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Pio's Proverb 197: All Saints Day!
When interviewing Mother Teresa, a brazen reported/interviewer asked her: "Are you a Saint?!" She got right back at him and told him that all are called to be saints and said to him: "You are called to be a Saint!" She is right: we all have the "universal call to holiness!"
In the Book of Revelation, St. John says: "there were a multitudes that no one could number wearing white robes...who have washed their robes white in the Blood of the Lamb!" These multitudes were not the mere 144,000 elders. But this great number is all of us: the Saints of God. St. John was seeing a vision of us!
Where are you heading: to be in their number or being absent? We look at great film stars: James Steward, Spencer Tracy, Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, Drew Barrimore, Tom Hanks. Just ask them if they gave all they had to their film career. They were successful because they gave all their energy and time and devotion to thier careers. Well, Maureen O'Hara may be an exception. She was a devout Catholic and gave a great deal of herself to God. So much so that she persuaded by her words and her prayers to bring John Wayne intot he Catholic Church just 3 days before he died. He loved her...and believed her..because he knew she lived her faith! He was therefore baptize, confirmed and received his first Holy Communion and then went to be with the Lord! Well, Baptism is a great Sacrament that takes away all personal sins and punishment due to sin. God did for him what Jesus did for the good thief: "This very day you will be with me in paradise!" John Wayne went directly to heaven! God made a great shoe-string catch of John Wayne with only minutes on the clock! We are all called to be saints: John Wayne found that out in a beautiful way. It was because Maureen O' Hara was a saint in the making that she made one more!
The greatest quality of a Saint! What is it!?
HUMILITY! To humbly accept the merciful forgiveness of God and to humbly accept all the Love God has for us!!! How much is it? "With an everlasting love, I have loved you!"
St. Augustine was a libertine, got a girl pregnant, who lived with his mother and him in their own home. He told God he would be pure..but not yet...
Augustine's mom prayed for him for nearly 30 years. He was converted; he became a priest and a bishop. Monica converted her mother-in-law and her husband. St. Monica made three Saints. No one goes to heaven alone or to hell alone. We always bring someone with us.
"Are you a Saint?" asked the reporter! What is your answer to him now?"
But most of all, what if you were to ask Jesus "who is a saint" and if you are among them? Jesus would quickly answer you. He would simply tell you this:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: the reign of God is theirs.
Blest too are the sorrowing, they shall be consoled.
Blest are the meek; they shall inherit the land.
Blest are they who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill.
Blest are they who show mercy; mercy shall be theirs.
Blest are the pure of heart [single-hearted] for they sahll see God,
Blest too the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God.
Blest are those persecuted for holiness' sake; the reign of God is theirs.
Blest are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of slender againt you because of me.
Be glad and rejoice; for your reward is great in haven; they perseucted the prophets before you in the svery same way.
You are the salt of the earth....You are the light of the world!"
So let us go forth in this world as "salt" and as the "light of the world!"
"The only great tragedy in this world is not to be a saint!"
"The Glory of God is a man/woman fully alive!" That was spoken by Saint Iraeneus! All the Saints show us that it CAN be DONE!
All Saints pray for us!
Peace and love,
Pio
In the Book of Revelation, St. John says: "there were a multitudes that no one could number wearing white robes...who have washed their robes white in the Blood of the Lamb!" These multitudes were not the mere 144,000 elders. But this great number is all of us: the Saints of God. St. John was seeing a vision of us!
Where are you heading: to be in their number or being absent? We look at great film stars: James Steward, Spencer Tracy, Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, Drew Barrimore, Tom Hanks. Just ask them if they gave all they had to their film career. They were successful because they gave all their energy and time and devotion to thier careers. Well, Maureen O'Hara may be an exception. She was a devout Catholic and gave a great deal of herself to God. So much so that she persuaded by her words and her prayers to bring John Wayne intot he Catholic Church just 3 days before he died. He loved her...and believed her..because he knew she lived her faith! He was therefore baptize, confirmed and received his first Holy Communion and then went to be with the Lord! Well, Baptism is a great Sacrament that takes away all personal sins and punishment due to sin. God did for him what Jesus did for the good thief: "This very day you will be with me in paradise!" John Wayne went directly to heaven! God made a great shoe-string catch of John Wayne with only minutes on the clock! We are all called to be saints: John Wayne found that out in a beautiful way. It was because Maureen O' Hara was a saint in the making that she made one more!
The greatest quality of a Saint! What is it!?
HUMILITY! To humbly accept the merciful forgiveness of God and to humbly accept all the Love God has for us!!! How much is it? "With an everlasting love, I have loved you!"
St. Augustine was a libertine, got a girl pregnant, who lived with his mother and him in their own home. He told God he would be pure..but not yet...
Augustine's mom prayed for him for nearly 30 years. He was converted; he became a priest and a bishop. Monica converted her mother-in-law and her husband. St. Monica made three Saints. No one goes to heaven alone or to hell alone. We always bring someone with us.
"Are you a Saint?" asked the reporter! What is your answer to him now?"
But most of all, what if you were to ask Jesus "who is a saint" and if you are among them? Jesus would quickly answer you. He would simply tell you this:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: the reign of God is theirs.
Blest too are the sorrowing, they shall be consoled.
Blest are the meek; they shall inherit the land.
Blest are they who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill.
Blest are they who show mercy; mercy shall be theirs.
Blest are the pure of heart [single-hearted] for they sahll see God,
Blest too the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God.
Blest are those persecuted for holiness' sake; the reign of God is theirs.
Blest are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of slender againt you because of me.
Be glad and rejoice; for your reward is great in haven; they perseucted the prophets before you in the svery same way.
You are the salt of the earth....You are the light of the world!"
So let us go forth in this world as "salt" and as the "light of the world!"
"The only great tragedy in this world is not to be a saint!"
"The Glory of God is a man/woman fully alive!" That was spoken by Saint Iraeneus! All the Saints show us that it CAN be DONE!
All Saints pray for us!
Peace and love,
Pio
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