To the Mother of God

O most holy Mother of God, O only Lady who art utterly pure in both soul and body, look upon me, abominable and unclean, who have blackened soul and body with the stains of my passionate and gluttonous life. Cleanse my passionate mind; set aright my blind and wandering thoughts and make them incorrupt; bring my senses to order and guide them; free me from my evil and repulsive addiction to unclean prejudices and passions which torment me; grant my clouded and wretched mind the sobriety and discernment to correct my intentions and failings that, freed from the darkness of sin, I might be worthy to boldly glorify and praise thee, O only true Mother of the true Light, Christ our God; for all creation, visible and invisible, blesses and glorifies thee, both with Him and in Him.

— St Ephraim the Syrian, A Spiritual Psalter or Reflections on God, trans. Isaac Lambertson (Liberty, Tennessee: St. John of Kronstadt Press, 1997), p. 63.

On today’s Feast — from last year.

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Your Feel Good Thought for the Day …

The bane of our age is not intolerance, but a fuzzy-minded, wishy-washy “tolerance” based on a muddled conviction that there’s “something good about everyone” and that everyone is “like us” down deep.

There isn’t, and they aren’t.

Stolen from a Comment on the weekend’s frivolity.

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The Times, They Are a Changin’

“A time is coming when people will go mad and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, “You are mad, you are not like us.”

— St. Anthony the Great

Recently, in the United States …

Presidential hopefuls in the Democrat Party participated in a forum devoted entirely to “Gay Issues.”

Meanwhile, in the Empire-Formerly-Known-as-Evil …

A spokesman for the Orthodox Church said Wednesday that Russia’s schools should teach religious principles and moral values, and accused some of Russia’s leading scientists of trying to impose the “ideology of science” on the school system.

The Church, he said, should play a leading role in setting moral standards for youth.

“We have to show them an unhappy homosexual in his 40s and an aging prostitute,” he said. “Otherwise, in 30 years our children will turn into animals influenced by the cult of glamour and debauchery.” Source

Elsewhere, in the much afflicted Anglican Communion …

Some have criticized conservative Anglicans for their stance against homosexuality and accused them of being homophobic, but Gomez clarified that they are not against homosexual persons.

And the issue is about “homosexual practice” – a lifestyle about that is incompatible with Scripture, as the Anglican Communion affirms. But beyond the sexuality itself, Gomez pointed to the context and biblical revelation attached to homosexual practice.

“In the church’s long history, the uninterrupted consensus is that physical intercourse is only intended for man and woman within marriage in a life long commitment. Anything else is contrary to God’s will for humanity. The ground for the church taking this stand is the Bible and it is transparently clear about homosexual behavior.”

Moreover, the vast majority of Christians hold the same stance as the conservative Anglicans on homosexuality, Gomez noted. It is “the liberals,” mainly those in The Episcopal Church, who are in the minority. Source

Then, there’s the Lutherans …

The largest Lutheran body in the nation caused a stir Saturday after controversially deciding not to punish homosexual clergy who are in sexual relationships.

At its annual assembly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) passed by a vote of 538-431 a resolution urging bishops to refrain from disciplining pastors who are in “faithful committed same-gender relationships”.

A day earlier, attendees voted down a measure that would have ended a ban on non-celibate gay clergy. Saturday’s vote, however, means those who violate that policy can no longer be tried or punished.

“The Church … has just said ‘Do not do punishments’. That is huge,” commented Phil Soucy, spokesman for Lutherans Concerned, a gay-lesbian rights group within ELCA.

The 4.8-million member church body had previously allowed gays to serve as pastors, but only under the condition that they abstained from any sexual relations.
Source

Then, there’s this …

The index fingers of most straight men are shorter than their ring fingers, and for most women they are the same length or longer. Gay men and lesbians tend to have reversed ratios.

If sexual orientation is biological, and we are learning to identify how it happens inside the uterus, doesn’t it suggest a future in which gay people can be prevented? This spring, R. Albert Mohler Jr., the president of a Southern Baptist theological seminary in Kentucky and one of the country’s leading Evangelical voices, advocated just that. “We want to understand why some persons will struggle with that particular sin,” he explained. “If there is a way we can help with the struggle, we should certainly be open to it, the same way we would help alcoholics deal with their temptation.”

That in part is why gay people have not hungered for this breakthrough.

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(Face it, no matter your understanding, you held up your hand and took a look just to make sure. Didn’t ya?)

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On the Priesthood

The following is by Fr Aris Metrakos.

Why do some men who are called to this role fail miserably while others succeed? Can seminarians be prepared for the presbytery in a way that is neither hyper-spiritualized (“just send them all to a monastery for a few years”) nor McDonaldized (“we need to produce a consistent and dependable product to serve our parishes”)? Can older priests learn to mentor young clergy without becoming their tormentors? What criteria do veteran priests use to evaluate themselves and and avoid stagnation in their ministries?

The frequent abuse of priests at the hands of the irrational, the ignorant, and the down right mean is the 300 pound gorilla of American Orthodoxy. Why are our seminaries filled with converts? At least one priest’s young son knows the answer. When his father suggested that the 12 year-old would make a good priest, the boy responded without hesitation: “I’ve thought a lot about it and it would be pretty cool. But I see the way people treat you. I couldn’t do that.”

Not knowing ourselves can lead to disaster. Don’t be a chancellor if you don’t like administrative work. Don’t apply for a Ph.D. program unless sitting in a library for hours on end doesn’t bother you. Don’t be a parish priest unless you know how to take a punch.

Read it all H E R E.

Thanks to FWD from Jean-Michel.

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Oh, Okay … It’s the Weekend

The following is frivolous e-spam sent me by the Missuz; while you’re here, you might as well read it …

IDLE THOUGHTS OF A WANDERING MIND

I had amnesia once — or twice.

Protons have mass? I didn’t even know they were Catholic.

I am neither for nor against apathy.

All I ask is a chance to prove that money can’t make me happy.

If the world were a logical place, men would be the ones who ride horses sidesaddle.

What is a “free” gift? Aren’t all gifts free?

They told me I was gullible and I believed them.

Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home, and when he grows up, he’ll never be able to merge his car onto the freeway.

Experience is the thing you have left when everyth ing else is gone.

One nice thing about egotists … they don’t talk about other people.

My weight is perfect for my height … which varies.

I used to be indecisive. Now, I’m not sure.

The cost of living hasn’t affected its popularity.

How can there be self-help groups?

If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?

Show me a man with both feet firmly on the ground, and I’ll show you a man who can’t get his pants off.

Is it just me, or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?

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