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  1. Today
  2. GraceUk

    Visit to Carmel

    I thought there was a minimum number of nuns allowed and then they had to amalgamate with another Carmel. If it dropped below that number. But not sure of the exact rules.
  3. GraceUk

    Who created God?

    My Dad lost his faith and used to say this. I don't think he was an atheist but didn't really believed wholeheartedly. I try not to over think things. St Therese of Lisieux had the right approach I think.
  4. little2add

    Holy Thursday

    Luke 22: 14 - 20
  5. cappie

    Holy Thursday

    Holy Thursday is the day when the Church recalls the Last Supper of our Lord, the event in the life of Jesus which forms the basis for the sacrament of the Eucharist. One of the key elements in the theology of the Eucharist is captured in the Greek word “anamnesis,” which means remembrance.” Anamnesis comes from the words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper: “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). We also see this being emphasized in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. We can see that the early Church clearly recalled that when Jesus blessed the bread and the wine and shared them with his disciples, he had asked them to do it in order to remember him. It is precisely because of this commandment of Jesus that we celebrate the Eucharist. This idea of remembering goes back to the Passover. In the first Reading, we read about Moses instituting the first Passover among the people of Israel who were in bondage in Egypt. It was a tradition that was to be passed on and followed by all generations to mark the night of their escape from slavery. Jesus, being a good Jew who would have certainly heard this story from his parents as a child, also remembered and celebrated this great thanksgiving for God’s salvation on the night of his arrest. Using the bread and wine as symbols of sacrifice and suffering, on his last supper before he was killed, he helped his disciples to trust even when sin, evil, and death seemed to triumph. The Passover, which was remembered during the Last Supper, became a reality on Easter Day, even though they had difficulty accepting and believing it. This is why the followers of Jesus took seriously his commandment to remember(anamnesis) him as they broke the bread and shared the cup. It is also why we believe that Christ is present with us in the bread and the wine. On Holy Thursday, we place the host at an altar of repose, which reminds us of the garden of Gethsemane. We watch and pray because we believe that the presence of Christ is as real today as it was two thousand years ago. Anamnesis is to remember and relive past events in a way that matters to us in the present. In other words, it is a conscious recognition of the presence and application of the past to transform the world in the present. This means that Eucharist is more than blessing the bread and wine. It is more than breaking the bread and sharing the cup as Jesus did. While other gospel writers and Paul remembered Jesus blessing the bread and the wine and proclaiming that the bread was his body and the wine was his blood, the author of the fourth gospel, John, notices and writes about something different and deeper. He recalls that, during the supper, Jesus had done something unthinkable. He humbled himself like a lowly servant and washed the feet of his disciples, including the one who was going to betray him, reminding them of the importance of humility and love. Thus, John seems to tell us that perhaps the most important aspect of the Last Supper which we remember and celebrate on Holy Thursday, is love loving one another as Christ has loved us, self-sacrificing, self-emptying, and self-giving love. It is a love that even bends down and washes the feet of those who may hate us. Love is exactly what Christ wants us to do! In fact, this is what the word Maundy the older name for Holy Thursday stands for; the Latin word “mandatum” means “commandment.” On this night, Jesus gave a new commandment to his disciples: to love one another. This means, as important as the bread and the wine are to the Eucharist, as necessary as our traditions and rituals of the Triduum are, we cannot overlook the crucial significance of love. In fact, without love, God’s love for the world that brings us together, and our love for one another, there is not and can be no meaningful celebration of the Eucharist. Often, we end up forgetting the most important reason and objective for Maundy Thursday, which is to love one another. This is why, we practice the tradition of foot washing, to remind ourselves to love one another as God has loved us. As we break the bread and share the cup, as we experience or witness the foot washing, we are reminded to go beyond the many barriers that divide us, transcend the hate that often surrounds us, and serve our fellow sisters and brothers in love. As we remember this Last Supper and the humble act of our Lord, and as we gather at the Lord’s Altar to receive his body and blood, may we remember to follow his command to love one another.
  6. Luigi

    Feed Your Ears

    I posted a song by Brother Joe May about a week ago. Here's another one, in pure blues format - "Don't Let the Devil Ride" (cause if you let him ride, he'll want to drive).
  7. Yesterday
  8. Jane Aseltyne of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Monroe, MI) will profess final vows on August 3.
  9. Assumption Benedictine Abbey in North Dakota posted today on Facebook that their Brother Joseph professed solemn vows on March 21st, the feast of the Transitus of Saint Benedict. I posted on Sunday that Assumption had 1 man in first vows, but I was (happily) wrong - they had two men in first vows last Sunday; they have one man in first vows now.
  10. Luigi

    Feed Your Ears

    Another Bob Dylan song - "Ring Them Bells" - sung by Joe Cocker. Everybody and his brother has recorded this song; I like Cocker's version. As with any Dylan song, it's hard to figure out exactly what he's saying. I think that's one reason everybody and his brother has recorded it - it feels "spiritual but not religious." But my analysis is that Dylan actually is being religious. Listen and decide for yourself.
  11. Last week
  12. kyledewolf85

    Who created God?

    So, we've all heard the argument, if God created the universe, then who created God? If we say that God always existed, the argument goes boom, why couldn't the universe always exist? Gotcha. How do we respond to this argument? I believe that the answer must be that the universe undergoes change, whereas God does not change. Since the universe undergoes change, there must be a first cause that initiates that change. However, since God does not undergo change, God does not need a first cause to initiate any change within him. So, God is the first cause of all change within the universe. It is logically necessary that the first cause of all change should itself be an unchangeable being since there would not be anything else causing or initiating change within it. Creation may be seen as a particular form of change in which an entity "changes" from non-being into being. It seems logical to me that there cannot be an infinite regression of creators, with somebody else before God creating God, and then somebody else before him creating that God, and so on. So, there must be a first creator, and it follows that the first creator is an unchangeable being.
  13. Luigi

    Feed Your Ears

    The psalm for today's readings is Psalm 27, The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation (whom shall I fear?). I remember the first time I heard this setting, composed by Andre Crouch, a leading light of current Gospel music and a prolific composer. This is a stirring setting of the psalm.
  14. Luigi

    Feed Your Ears

    I think I posted this song at some point in the past on a different but similar thread. The song was written by Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), blind, but one of the most prolific hymn composers of the 19th century. This is Alison Krauss singing "Near the Cross," accompanied by Ron Block, one of her band members and a very committed Christian, playing the simplest guitar accompaniment you'll ever hear. They must've been at a weekend retreat or something - it looks like they're on stage in a gym or auditorium. This is an amateur video - hand-held phone or something - but I like it because the whole crowd joins in on the last chorus or two, including the guy holding the camera. He has a very good voice and sings a wonderful harmony. The actual singing doesn't begin until 0:45 or so.
  15. Benedictines of the American Cassinese Congregation: Again, this is just catch-up information - some of the people listed (as numbers) will probably make vows or be ordained in 2024. The congregation doesn't publish a house-by-house summary of statistics the way the Swiss American Congregation does, so it's harder to track down this information. I found some on their web sites, some in newsletters, and some on FaceBook. Keep in mind, though, that in information is incomplete - there might be more than the people listed here. Saint Vincent's Archabbey (Pennsylvania): 6 men in first vows and 3 postulants Saint John's Abbey (Minnesota): I couldn't find any numbers, but they usually receive one or two men per year, so they might have 6 or eight men in formation. Saint Benedict's Abby (Kansas): 5 or s in first vows, and 1 or 2 novices Saint Anselm Abbey (New Hampshire): 1 deacon ordained 12-10-24; several in formation Saint Gregory's Abbey (Oklahoma): 1 solemn profession last year; 1 man in first vows; 1 novice this year; possibly 1 postulant Saint Bernard Abbey (Alabama): I can find no specific information, but they usually have a couple of men in formation - or at least they have had for the last 10 years or so. Saint Mary Abbey (Morristown, New Jersey): 1 novice Newark Abbey (Newark, New Jersey): 2 men in first vows Mary, Help of Christians (Belmont, North Carolina): Deacon ordination, 1 solemn vows, 1 novice - all in '23 Assumption Abbey (North Dakota): 1 man in first vows Saint Martin's Abbey (Washington state): 3 or 4 men in first vows and 1 novice No men in formation at Mary, Mother of the Church (Virginia), Saint Leo (Florida), Saint Andrew (Ohio), Saint Procopius (Lisle, Illinois), or Saint Bede (Peru, Illinois).
  16. Benedictines of the Swiss-American Congregation: Most of the novices listed here entered in Fall 2023, but this congregation also accepts novices in February, so one or two might be from this year. Saint Meinrad Archabbey (Indiana): 2 novices and 2 men in first vows Conception Abbey (Missouri): 4 novices and 2 men in first vows Subiaco Abbey (Arkansas): 1 novice and 1 man in first vows Saint Joseph Abbey (Louisiana): 1 novice and 5 men in first vows Marmion Abbey (Illinois): 1 novice Prince of Peace Abbey (California): 1 man in first vows Saint Benedict's (Still River, Massachusetts): 1 novice and 1 man in first vows There are no men in formation at: Mount Michael Abbey (Nebraska), Glastonbury Abbey (Massachusetts), or Ascension monastery (Idaho).
  17. We've had threads of this kind in the past, and there seems to be some interest again this year. It being Sunday afternoon, and having nothing else in particular to do, I decided to create the topic for 2024. First some catch-up stats, from last year. Dominican Friars, eastern province (St. Joseph): 37 men in the studium. (One of those men is from my archdiocese, and in fact, I taught his sister in several classes. I've met his folks, too.) I don't know how many will be ordained priests or deacons this year, but I'm sure they'll announce when those ordinations happens. I think 7 novices were accepted in Fall 2023, but that page is undated. Dominican Friars, central province (St. Albert the Great): 12 men in the studium. One is scheduled to be ordained a priest and one to be ordained a deacon later this year. They received 8 novices in Fall 2023, and all 8 are still in the novitiate. Dominican Friars, southern province (St. Martin de Porres): 10 men in the studium. One is scheduled to be ordained a priest later this year, and maybe one or two deacons. The province accepted 7 novices in Fall 2023, and 6 are still in the novitiate. Dominican Friars, western province (Holy Name of Jesus): 25 men in the studium, plus one from Poland and 3 or 4 for the Vicariate of Vietnam. Some of those will be ordained priests or deacons in May or June. The province accepted 9 novices in Fall 2023. More to follow.
  18. Luigi

    Feed Your Ears

    "(Plant My Feet on) Higher Ground" was written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. (1856-1922), a businessman and preacher. The Famous Davis Sisters were a Philadelphia group formed in 1945, recording from 1949 to 1970. They really were sisters, too - Ruth ("Baby Sis") was the lead singer, with Thelma, Audrey, Alfreda, and Edna singing backup. Oatman composed four verses and a chorus; the Davis Sisters sing the first verse and the chorus, then they ad lib for quite a while, and end with the chorus again. A choir could never ad lib the middle part! I include the lyrics for the first verse and the chorus because the words are rather 'old-time poetic' so they're not always easy to understand even when you hear them correctly. 1 I’m pressing on the upward way, New heights I’m gaining ev'ry day; Still praying as I’m onward bound, “Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.” Refrain: Lord, lift me up, and let me stand By faith, on heaven’s tableland; A higher plane than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
  19. little2add

    abortion does not advance equality for women

    Allowing biological males to compete in female professional sports does not advance the cause of women's equality or advance feminism , for that matter.
  20. Luigi

    Feed Your Ears

    Stuart Hamblen was a singing cowboy in 1940's Hollywood. After his conversion/reversion, he wrote "It Is No Secret What God Can Do." I've heard his original recording, and it's good. I've also heard Jim Reeves' cover, and Mahalia Jackson's interpretation (I recommend you look it up on YouTube and listen to it by way of comparison). But this is Elvis Presley's version - many people consider it the definitive version. And here's the link to "The Story Behind the Song" - it's very interesting. https://www.christianpost.com/news/the-story-behind-it-is-no-secret-what-god-can-do.html
  21. cappie

    Palm Sunday

    When evening came he arrived with the Twelve. And while they were at table eating, Jesus said, ✠ I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me, one of you eating with me. N. They were distressed and asked him, one after another, C. Not I, surely? “Not I surely?” What could more blatantly expose the guilty consciences of the disciples as they shared the Passover meal with Jesus? NIV translates it: “Surely you don’t mean me?” The location was an upper room in Jerusalem. There, the dangers of their mission must have begun to dawn. Previously, they had been an insignificant local group. Now, they are in the holy city, site of the central Roman administration, residence of the Roman governor, abode of the chief priests and elders — Jesus’s implacable enemies. It is hardly surprising that the disciples ask, “Not I surely?” The fact that they ask at all hints that they have realised the possible consequences of their friend’s challenge to the religious and imperial authorities. Perhaps they already thought of deserting him, pictured themselves quietly melting into the faceless crowd. After all, not many hours later, they did exactly that (14.50). The term, “the Son of Man” occurs four times in this passage (14.21 [twice], 41, 62), I suggest that, if the article “the” is present (“the Son of Man”), it is safe to say that Jesus is speaking about himself. The term embraces two ideas: first, that by being human he is subject to death; and, second, that, through his death and beyond it, God will vindicate him. Palm Sunday is a good time to investigate what Jesus means by calling himself the Son of Man; for this is when the meaning of Jesus’s life as a human individual shades into what we sometimes call the “Christ-event” — a shift, in other words, between Jesus, son of Joseph, and Christ, the eternal Word. Only when this shift takes place can we begin to ask one of the deep questions of Passiontide: what does Jesus’s suffering and death say about him; and how can it speak to us, beyond what marks the suffering or death of any other human being? Our answer comes with the fulfilment of the story of “the Son of Man”. Way back in Mark’s Gospel, people had responded to Jesus’s teaching by asking one another, “Where did this man get all this?” (6.2). They have seen nothing in his background, upbringing, education, or work life to make him as different. And yet, after his baptism, his life seems to burst its ordinary human bounds. He calls, communicates, and cures. He guides, challenges, and inspires, in ways that are utterly overwhelming. Jesus teaches about God like one who knows him fully and is at home in his presence. The story is being told once again. Forget for a moment that you know the ending. Love comes to us today riding on a donkey. Let us greet him with palms and songs. And then let us once again journey with him from death into life. The spiritual and emotional feeling builds towards Maundy Thursday, right up to the moment when the disciples desert Jesus and flee. Then, we wait: first, for the crucifixion to happen; then, for it to end. Finally, we wait for the tomb in which he was laid to be found empty, so that death can bring us to life once more, beside our friend and brother: beside the Son of Man. Finally, Holy Week is the greatest and most important week in the Christian year. I invite you to enter into this week as fully as you can, by making time to worship, and to make this a sacred time in which we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. Over the next few days, we do not just recall the death of Christ as an important or note-worthy event external to us. Rather, we encounter the Risen Lord in our midst through the liturgy of the church and enter into the mystery of his Cross through our keeping together of this sacred time May we encounter the holy this week, and may we find our tired hope refreshed.
  22. cappie

    Palm Sunday

    When evening came he arrived with the Twelve. And while they were at table eating, Jesus said, ✠ I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me, one of you eating with me. N. They were distressed and asked him, one after another, C. Not I, surely? “Not I surely?” What could more blatantly expose the guilty consciences of the disciples as they shared the Passover meal with Jesus? NIV translates it: “Surely you don’t mean me?” The location was an upper room in Jerusalem. There, the dangers of their mission must have begun to dawn. Previously, they had been an insignificant local group. Now, they are in the holy city, site of the central Roman administration, residence of the Roman governor, abode of the chief priests and elders — Jesus’s implacable enemies. It is hardly surprising that the disciples ask, “Not I surely?” The fact that they ask at all hints that they have realised the possible consequences of their friend’s challenge to the religious and imperial authorities. Perhaps they already thought of deserting him, pictured themselves quietly melting into the faceless crowd. After all, not many hours later, they did exactly that (14.50). The term, “the Son of Man” occurs four times in this passage (14.21 [twice], 41, 62), I suggest that, if the article “the” is present (“the Son of Man”), it is safe to say that Jesus is speaking about himself. The term embraces two ideas: first, that by being human he is subject to death; and, second, that, through his death and beyond it, God will vindicate him. Palm Sunday is a good time to investigate what Jesus means by calling himself the Son of Man; for this is when the meaning of Jesus’s life as a human individual shades into what we sometimes call the “Christ-event” — a shift, in other words, between Jesus, son of Joseph, and Christ, the eternal Word. Only when this shift takes place can we begin to ask one of the deep questions of Passiontide: what does Jesus’s suffering and death say about him; and how can it speak to us, beyond what marks the suffering or death of any other human being? Our answer comes with the fulfilment of the story of “the Son of Man”. Way back in Mark’s Gospel, people had responded to Jesus’s teaching by asking one another, “Where did this man get all this?” (6.2). They have seen nothing in his background, upbringing, education, or work life to make him as different. And yet, after his baptism, his life seems to burst its ordinary human bounds. He calls, communicates, and cures. He guides, challenges, and inspires, in ways that are utterly overwhelming. Jesus teaches about God like one who knows him fully and is at home in his presence. The story is being told once again. Forget for a moment that you know the ending. Love comes to us today riding on a donkey. Let us greet him with palms and songs. And then let us once again journey with him from death into life. The spiritual and emotional feeling builds towards Maundy Thursday, right up to the moment when the disciples desert Jesus and flee. Then, we wait: first, for the crucifixion to happen; then, for it to end. Finally, we wait for the tomb in which he was laid to be found empty, so that death can bring us to life once more, beside our friend and brother: beside the Son of Man. Finally, Holy Week is the greatest and most important week in the Christian year. I invite you to enter into this week as fully as you can, by making time to worship, and to make this a sacred time in which we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. Over the next few days, we do not just recall the death of Christ as an important or note-worthy event external to us. Rather, we encounter the Risen Lord in our midst through the liturgy of the church and enter into the mystery of his Cross through our keeping together of this sacred time May we encounter the holy this week, and may we find our tired hope refreshed.
  23. Article - interesting, and not long - from Word on Fire describing how the rhetoric used to justify slavery is essentially the same as the rhetoric used to justify abortion. Basically, the slavery argument was: Slavery is necessary so that white people can live the lives they're entitled to (thinking, creating, etc. rather than laboring) and, these days, Abortion is necessary so that women can live the lives they're entitled to. https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/abortion-slavery-and-the-image-of-god/
  24. little2add

    abortion does not advance equality for women

    Calling abortion healthcare does not advance the cause of women's equality or (spiritual ) health, for that matter.
  25. Luigi

    Feed Your Ears

    The Mighty Clouds of Joy were formed in 1959 and remained active (with lots of changes in personnel) until 2012. Here they sing "I've Been in the Storm Too Long." It was written by James Cleveland, one of the great Gospel singers, but what I find interesting is that there are so few words in the lyrics. It's just "I've been in the storm too long; (please) let me have a little more time to pray." That's it! But the song is five minutes long. And it really doesn't get boring. It comes across as an expression of spiritual exhaustion. The lead singer is Joe Legon.
  26. Earlier
  27. for the complete copy of the decree, please click the link below: https://cbcpnews.net/cbcpnews/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Prot.-226-1949-DECREE-on-Presumed-Apparitions-of-the-BVM-at-the-Carmelite-Convent-in-Lipa-Dec.11-2015.pdf excerpts of the decree: 5. The main reason for this determination is the revelation the Prioress made in a series ofletters, in which she confessed her own role in the “deception” of Lipa. The Prioress confessed to having lied about certain aspects of the events. Specifically, she mentioned that, while she had previously claimed to have heard the voice of “the Mother”, she had, in fact, never heard any such voice. Rather, the messages she received were given to her in the form of written notes allegedly from the Blessed Virgin. One of these messages ordered her to re-write the notes she received and then to destroy the originals, and another told her to destroy the petal-less rose stems. The Prioress wrote, ''About the strange written notes allegedly from Our Lady herself, I have never made any of them. They were not always in the same penmanship, sometime (sic) like the one written on the picture 1 gave to the Very Reverend Father, the Apostolic Visitor; sometimes exactly like Sister Teresa's, sometimes like a little child's..." She confessed to having manipulated rose petals so that they would appear to have sacred images imbedded in them. The Prioress also confessed that one of these messages encouraged the Sisters to tell the same story to the experts sent by the Vatican to investigate the phenomenon. In one of these letters, she sought the forgiveness of the Holy Father for the damage caused to the Church by the “apparitions.” Other aspects were also considered by the Congregation in its determination: the fact that the messages regard exclusively relations between the prioress and Teresa, and among the prioress and the other sisters; the fact that some of the sisters testified that they had seen deliveries of roses to the convent and, subsequently, had received orders from the Prioress to burn rose stems without petals; the fact that there was evidence that Teresa was often under the influence of pain medication, which she took due to regular, intense physical pain. I personally find it hard to believe that Mother Mary Cecilia can do this: 1. where did she get any money to buy boxes and boxes of roses, they are in the middle of finishing the Carmel. 2. how can anyone drop and spread those petals from very high places except when someone uses airplaines or helicopter? Nobody sees any during that time. 3. Also, the novice Teresing in her statement, wrote that she was forced by a Dominican Friar to sign a statement saying that the event is not true. She refused to sign anything. She was taken to University of Santo Tomas for investigation. 4. Mother Cecilia was also brought to Santo Tomas for investigation. She and Teresing stayed in UST at the same time and both were not aware that their rooms is just next to each other. They only met for 30 minutes when Mother was brought to Teresings room by a Prelate. The following day, Mother left UST. It is possible that she "wrote" these alleged letters during this period. Mother Cecilia was banished to Jaro Carmel.
  28. PaxCordisJesu

    delete account

    @dUSt Can you please permanently delete my account? Thanks! Sorry posted this in the wrong place!
  29. Luigi

    Feed Your Ears

    Today's first reading is from the Book of Daniel and tells (most of) the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (their Babylonian names, not their Hebrew names). So... here's the one and only, the late great Louis Armstrong with his 1958 hit that tells the same story musically.
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