Blessed be God who gives his children Kingdom eyes

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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LOVE LETTER TO YOUNG COUPLES STRUGGLING UNDER THE WEIGHT OF DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY HISTORIES

It's so good and healthy and actually spiritual that young marrieds open their hearts and minds and spirits to each other and are finding words and images to express what they are feeling and going through as they bear the brunt of the misery of their dysfunctional relatives, near and far....

Much of what we have experienced of family over the years leaves a bad taste in our mouth, and sooner or later we are having the impression that our life tastes like misery, isolation, anger, and divorce, that all paths seem to be leading us there, and we don't see any other way.... By the way, dear Reader, feel free to share both your thoughts and my reflection with your spouse, partner, close friend, trusted relative; since as you may already be blessed to be able to say you and this other person are so trusting and open with one another, which by the way, is the way of love... it is God's way, not the world's way....

You may not know this or you may already know so well by now that the Holy Trinity have given us, those who wish to cultivate and use them, Kingdom eyes which in the light of the Holy Trinity allow us to see clearly the truth about God, about creation, about ourselves, about others, and about the world.

Remember in the Old Testament how God said to Israel that their sins linger on to the 3rd and 4th generation but that in the just his love endures for a thousand generations? Isn't it true... see how, though he was a sinner, because he was repentant and really did love God, David let God bring forth good fruit in his life, fruit that is enduring even today because among his offspring came Jesus....

All the cranky, miserable, nasty, hateful, jealous, malicious, angry, vengeful, wicked... words, looks, manipulations, judgements, actions, behaviors... and more that you have endured from your family and your spouse's or significant other's family - that both of you and perhaps also your children have endured - are in the category of the sins of ancestors that linger to the 3rd and 4th generation....

We all are defiled by such things - kind of like a mom or dad who in attending to their muddy little children who've had a lovely time playing in the mud become all muddy themselves, but it's not their mud, it's the children's mud - so too we are besmirched by people who are defiled by their ancestry and remain caught in it due to their own sin and failure to walk in God's grace or inability or lack of energy, desire, or resolve to extricate themselves. So they are miserable and their misery vomits forth onto anyone and everyone within range.... It's a real bitch, but what can you do?

That things are this way is no reason to give up on life, Marriage, God, joy, laughter, grace, struggle, work, and fruitful living. Just because some people live a bankrupt existence doesn't mean we should give it all up and go naked and homeless like them, figuratively speaking, and literally sometimes....

So just maybe what you're up against is too big, all-pervasive, dark, strong, grasping, clutching, suffocating for you to expect to fix any of it or for you to expect relief from each other, you and your counterpart. Only the Savior can bring you relief, and first and always, He brings you relief by walking with you along the road, like the disciples Cleopas and Simeon on he way to Emmaus, with the comfort of knowing that our Lord Jesus Christ cut through all that entangled jungle with the huge machete of his merciful love and sharp Word of life, making a path in which we can find some footing moment by moment.

That is why our Opus Dei brothers and sisters and fathers and all those firmly committed to walking in the steps of Jesus focus so much on the little things that keep us in constant communion with the Lord Jesus in the company of Mother Mary and Saint Joseph and in the dynamic heart of the divine vitality of the Holy Trinity. It's a real bugger that we can't fix any of it ourselves... our original sin infected spirit keeps wanting to pridefully fix things and people, but we can't even fix ourselves, let alone others, and it's just as well. In fact it is an act of divine providence that we can't save ourselves, because if we could, we would crash in a rapid spiral of focusing in on our own self and become inextricably isolated. No, it's much better that we need a Savior every moment of every day, because our desperate need continually drives us into the arms of Christ and into the heart of the Holy Trinity....

The dispensation of the Divine Mercy is to leave the darnel grow among the wheat; so that the weeds provoke us to reach out to God all the more for breath and life and sun and light and hope and love and faith.... It's on the taught string of the sharp arrow against the bow that the bow sings... it's in the friction of flesh on flesh, heart on heart, bone on bone, spirit on spirit that a married couple make divine music together, allowing the Holy Trinity to restore them, their children, and all those who accept the blessing, to Christ....

Only in Christ do we truly breath fire and light and living water as children of the Most High, only in the tension of the dance can the music lift up our spirits and draw others into the eternal dance of the Holy Trinity....

So, my dear Reader, do I think you and your counterpart, your soul mate, your other half, your dear friend are headed for separate ways, for isolation, for divorce? Of course not... but I do think that chances are - when you are intensively under fire on all sides - that in the heat of such battle how you feel, both of you, is a warning of divine providence to allow the Holy Spirit to wash you anew with living water and blow away all the dust and cobwebs of the worldly ways of those who are lost that threaten to engulf us.

As Satan discovered when he tempted Jesus, He has already been vanquished... he can scream and scheme and threaten and send minions and stir up the lost people and raise up armies against us, but we are already victors in Jesus who has already won the definitive victory. All that remains is for us to endure the struggle as Jesus extends his victory into all the dark corners of our lives and the lives of all the tormented lost souls in this world....

The only difference between us and them is that the Lord is giving us the blessed grace of Kingdom eyes to see what's really going on, to know the score, to discern the path, and to walk in it....

Peace to you both and your children if you have any, and be docile to the graces the Holy Spirit is giving you these troubled days to lean on the Lord and to touch his tender mercies in each other... If you are merely friends, don't forget the grace of friendship, of seeking first the good of the other. If you are married, then don't forget the grace of Marriage, of the blessed union of two souls bent on the other's well being, pleasure, joy, and consolation....

Come Holy Spirit…. Viens Esprit Saint…. 

      L’abbé / Fr. Gilles     

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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In the Footsteps of St Paul

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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Thursday, October 10th, 2013

I began this pilgrimage with flu symptoms as my fellow pilgrims who had walked together "In the footsteps of Jesus" left and I remained behind in the Ritz Hotel in Jerusalem. As another pilgrim had done, I asked for a doctor at the Reception and within an hour received a "house call" from a young doctor. He was very friendly and competent, courteous and kind, and gave me a thorough examination, concluding I certainly did not have pneumonia but rather a viral infection. The medication I had bought the night before but not yet used was precisely what he would have given me, but he advised I take a little less than prescribed and added a cough syrup, which I went out and got. Encouraged and reassured, I packed my bags, worked on the previous blog entry and email for a while and then called for a cab and transferred to the Olive Tree Hotel to rejoin my new company of pilgrims, all 14 of them, including a brother priest.

In the days ahead, I will enter into my pilgrimage journal for this journey "In the footsteps of St Paul"....

Friday, October 11th, 2013

Day 01 - October 6, Sunday

The pilgrims traveled from various points of origin, mostly from Montreal or other places in Canada, while I finished my previous pilgrimage and saw our group off....

Saturday, October 12th, 2013

I felt a little anxious about my flu like symptoms and went out to get some medicine relying on the pharmacist's advice, but decided not to use it yet and instead in the morning ask the hotel to call a doctor for me.

Day 02 - October 7, Monday

While I was still at the Ritz Hotel, I asked the Receptionist to call a doctor for me and she quickly informed me he would come to my room within the hour. As I waited, I made up my baggage and less than an hour after the call the doctor came, and after a thorough examination, I was reassured I didn't have pneumonia but only a viral infection. I went out and got the syrop he had prescribed, and armed with that, I showered, changed, finished packing, and surrendered my room - there were no extra charges.

I went to one of the two computers at our disposal and worked for over an hour on my pilgrimage journal, and then went down with my luggage and asked for a taxi and went over to the Olive Tree Hotel.

Our group arrived, with a few staggered arrivals; while I came in around noon. I settled in, got some Internet time in the business center, made contact with one of the pilgrims to find out when was our supper and information meeting, and put in a few more hours on my pilgrimage journal.... It was good to go to supper and connect with my new fellow pilgrims, and especially to see Fr Paul and his sister Linda.

We were all delighted with our hotel rooms, the hotel food, and the high class settings of the hotel itself. After supper, I resumed writing on my previous pilgrimage journal, was frustrated to find that I could not begin a French version because the hotel pc's were language locked with only English and Hebrew. I watched some religious TV on the dedicated channel while I put some order in my things and prepared for the next day and went to bed.

Day 03 - October 8, Tuesday

Our first full day we began with a long walk down the steeply inclined road down the Mount of Olives, passing by an Orthodox Church on the right and the Jewish Cemetery on the left. For my part, and the other pilgrims felt the same way, it was touching to see the efforts and courage of our pilgrims walking with canes.We had a very long walk down a very steep road all the way down the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane. In Jesus' day, there was probably a long winding zigzag foot path or road going in and out among the olive trees from top to bottom of the mountain, but today it is a fairly straight steep road going up and down the middle of the mountain.

I think those first few days our Guide Foteh needed to become acclimated to our group and particular situations and needs. Personally, after the energetic pilgrimage I had just finished, I was glad - as I had been for our older Italian pilgrim in the previous group who was slow and steady - for our pilgrims who were slower than the others, because they allowed me a more leisurely pace and opportunity to walk with and chat with them and others.

At last we came to the Garden of Gethsemane - Garden of the Oil Press - where we were welcomed to celebrate Holy Mass in a crypt or grotto Chapel in the Franciscan Convent right on the Garden. It was a sacred moment to find ourselves sitting here, where Jesus spent so much time with his Apostles and especially his Agony after the Last Supper.... Fr Paul was inspired by the place and stirred up our love and devotion for the Lord.... It was good for me to be here again after only 3 days and just 'absorb' the atmosphere as it were, to look around and be inspired by the mosaics and other works of art in and around the altar and the chapel.

From Mass we explored the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of All Nations in the southern half of the Garden (we had also celebrated the Liturgy in the southern half - on our Pilgrimage In the Footsteps of Jesus we had celebrated the Liturgy outside in the corner of the northern half of the Garden) which is named after All Nations because of the contribution of many national churches to the decoration and maintenance of the church. One of our pilgrims returned to the bus while the rest of us went on.

We crossed the street and walked up into the Old City and made our way to the Church of St Anne marking the area where it is believed Mary was born and where we also saw the Pool of Bethesda, where Jesus had healed the man crippled for 38 years, who had been unable to bring himself in time into the water whenever it was stirred by the Angel of the Lord and be healed. We visited the Church of St Anne on the site of which Mary is believed to have been born. We explored the church and its underground chapels and prayed and sang together in the acoustically perfect Crusader church.

From there we began to walk the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross. Many were surprised to find themselves walking amid so many local shops - the Way is actually one long market or mall oriental style - and we stopped along the way to read out the station and stop for a moment of reflection and prayer. Foteh asked me to lead the reflection and prayer at each station, and for a while I felt put out to have to do something unprepared and with so little text in the typical leaflet sold in Jerusalem for the Way of the Cross. In the end, I accepted to assume my poverty in the face of the burden and allow the Lord to make it fruitful....

We had a longer visit and explanation from our Guide Foteh after the second station when we stopped at the Lithostratos kept by the Sisters of Sion. Here we saw ancient cisterns for the collection of rain water and pavement stones believed to have been taken from The Pavement - Gabatha - where Jesus was brought in to stand before Pontius Pilate. The structure we saw was erected over the previously open air cisterns and the stones likely moved from the former Pavement. Games played by Roman soldiers to pass the time have been etched into some of those stones, evidence that the Pavement had been under Roman authority. Then we continued to walk the Way of the Cross.

We interrupted the Way to have lunch at a local place and Foteh recounted how he grew up in this Christian Quarter between the 8th and 9th stations or so and knew many of the shopkeepers and local people. After lunch we were rejoined by our other pilgrim and came to the Holy Sepulcher which houses the ninth to the thirteenth stations - Jesus is stripped - Jesus is nailed to the Cross - Jesus is crucified and dies on the Cross - Jesus is taken down from the Cross - Jesus is laid in the tomb - the fourteenth station, if there was to be one, is the empty tomb: Jesus is risen from the dead.

It is initially a little taxing for the imagination to see here what was once Golgotha which was mostly taken away by Empress St Helen for the erection of this church. Up in the mezzanine on the right side as we enter on the south side (the original entrance in the Byzantine era church was from the east) underneath the middle Greek Orthodox Chapel Altar lies the top of Golgotha and the hole in which Jesus' Cross would have been placed. Some part of the side of Golgotha can be seen from the floor below on the far left of this mezzanine behind glass.

The same is true for the Holy Sepulcher itself, the Lord's tomb. Originally, Helen had the stone and earth around the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea - which had been excavated into a hill - she had it removed with only enough stone left to enclose the space of the tomb. When the Syrians invaded and destroyed every Christian structure except the Church of the Nativity (because they recognized the mosaics of the Wise Men as Syrians) they also destroyed the Tomb. Later, the Byzantines and Crusaders erected the current tomb on the site of the Lord's tomb in order to mark the spot for ongoing veneration and built a circular chapel with a cupola around it. The original erected by St Helen was open to the sky to manifest the direct line of sight to heaven for the Lord's Resurrection.

Although I had been here only 3 days earlier, I allowed myself to be carried by the place, letting grace carry my thoughts within to the Lord while also attending to the other pilgrims and sharing with some of them, in particular about the modern sculptures to the east side of the tomb depicting Mary Magdalene approaching Jesus and He saying to her "Don't hold onto me as I have not yet ascended to my Father and your Father...." It was good to just sit and contemplate.... As previously, I did not line up to enter into the tomb, having done that in 2000.

After this our Guide led us as we resumed our walk towards the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall. It meant something to us to enter into and stand in a remnant of the Roman colonnade which would have been lined on both sides with shops, not unlike today, but with a much wider road, one of the two main roads put in by the Romans in the second century. It gave us a glimpse anyway of what street level must have been in Jesus' day.

As we approached the Western Wall, we were passing a woman begging. She was cleanly dressed and sat to the side with a tired, mournful expression on her face and very expressive, almost piercing blue eyes. As we were walking by her, I was aware of feeling cut, pierced to the heart by her hauntingly beautiful and expressive eyes; as though the Spirit revealed to me that she was true and embarrassed to be begging. I came back and gave her something, and was surprised at her spontaneous and abrupt change of demeanor and expression to gracious gratitude in response to my small offering.

Shortly thereafter we "ran a gauntlet" of Jews begging for some children's aid organization. I had doubts about them but gave something... here were two very different sets of beggars, two very different effects on me... were they both legitimate, I wonder? It is no wonder the Lord tells us not to judge others, since we are not qualified to do so, but only He. 

It was a much anticipated revelation for most of our pilgrims to see and finally touch the Western Wall, once called the Wailing Wall or Wall of Lamentation. Initially, we waited for one of our pilgrims to join us who out of need to avoid the long walk was being brought near by our bus driver Youssef. While we waited, a number of us made use of the public WC - Water Closet - and took in the atmosphere.

Our Jewish brothers and sisters used to wail and lament the destruction of the Second Temple and their homeland. Since the restoration of a Jewish Homeland in 1948 and the successful war of 1967, Jews are more hopeful now and no longer lament as they once did, but rather express prayers of hope. For this reason, they prefer to call it now the Western Wall because it faces the East where the Holy of Holies once stood....

Three days earlier I had also been here but had missed seeing something; so this time I went into the study rooms on the left of the Wall where copies of the Torah and other sacred scrolls and books are kept for students of the law and worshipers. Inside I found what I had been told about, large slabs of glass on the floor near the wall against which these buildings had been built, and which revealed down below the original ground level from Jesus' day, a full seven large building blocks deep, some 7 to 9 meters... quite a sight. At the Wall outside and again here I prayed for God's peace to all his people everywhere and especially here in the Middle East.

Back at the hotel at the end of the day I discovered from Emma that her luggage had not yet arrived. I asked what had been done about it and she told me, but I found the situation unacceptable; so I offered to go to the Reception with her. I could see that they were not able to do much so I asked if they could call Canada for us and in the end we had to make the call from our rooms. I invited Emma to my room and there made a call to Pedja at STI in Vancouver. We reached him and she talked to him and he assured her he would investigate her missing bag and follow it up.

Day 04 - October 9, Wednesday

As on most mornings we got an early start and, after having a quick look around the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, we went to the Catholic Chapel - very beautiful - and Fr Paul and I were led to the Sacristy where we vested and the attendant led us to a lower Grotto Chapel near the actual Nativity Grotto and there we set up and celebrated the Holy Mass. It was inspiring to be so close to the spot where Mary gave birth to Jesus and we sang a few Christmas anthems.

Then we went back out and visited as we were led to the waiting line for the Nativity Grotto. After a while as I chatted with the others, I told Linda about our 2000 pilgrimage and the visit to the "Milk Grotto Chapel" and the ministry of the Franciscans to women with 'maternity problems'. As she manifested her interest on behalf of others, I decided to go there for the group while they continued to wait in line, since the line wasn't moving at all.

It took me a little over a half hour to go and return. I went on memory only and left the Nativity Church, went back to the street, turned left and left again to come back along the perimeter of the Nativity Church and continued up that lane until, sure enough, there on my right right where I expected it to be but a little further than I remembered, the Milk Grotto Chapel, which thank goodness was open. The first sight of it didn't seem familiar and I found the complex much bigger than I remembered. Thankfully I ran into a Franciscan, Father Lawrence I think, and he took me to his office and was quite enthusiastic about the healing ministry around the white cave dust and the prayer to Our Lady.

He related there came in every two days or so a testimony of healing grace through the intercession of Our Lady of the Milk... infertile women conceiving and giving birth naturally, healings of women from any number of death dealing illnesses, and other healings....

I shared the envelopes of white chalk cave powder with the prayers with Linda for the group and St Brendan Parish and rejoined the group. They were still waiting in line so I went to see Foteh what it was about. Some Armenians had come and were celebrating the Divine Liturgy, which can take hours, since it is their chapel after all; so I waited by sitting on a bench where I had interesting chat with some Japanese.

After a while I tole Foteh I would go revisit the Catholic Chapel and wait outside, which I did, taking some photos, praying, and then sitting outside, where I had a fruit....

From there we went to the Shepherds' Fields where I had been 12 days earlier and I stayed, sat, and chatted with Fr Paul and we went into the Shepherds' Chapel and prayed while the group explored the ruins of an Orthodox monastery adjacent. When  they joined us and walked around the Chapel, we invited them t o observe the 3 frescoes in order and then we had a moment of silence and prayed and sang an anthem. The acoustics were perfect.

We had lunch in Qumran and went on to the Dead Sea where I finally decided to go back into that salt water for a wade and float and shower... and walk in the sun covered in drying mud and after the first shower... after the second and change into clothes I had a pomegranate juice... then back to the bus and our hotel I did some work on my blog journal... At the boutique down near the hotel entrance I shopped for some gifts....

Day 05 - October 10, Thursday

That was the end of our stay in Jerusalem. We were all sorry to leave the Olive Tree Hotel behind... it was quite lovely, even luxurious... and we went to Jericho where we went to the Good Shepherd Parish Church for Mass. I had been there twice in the past 11 days already; so this was my third visit and Brother Anthony, a Franciscan, recognized me. He was from New Jersey and very kind and friendly. He set us up to celebrate (for me the third time) in the upstairs hall in the primary school, which had air conditioning, and Fr Paul invited Brother Anthony to tell us about the work of the Franciscans in the Holy Land, which he did with enthusiasm.

After Mass we went to the site of the archaeological dig of an ancient city, perhaps the oldest in the world where we first saw a film about the city and the archaeology around it, and then went walking the site in the blazing sun. The oldest city among the ruins was dated some 8,000 years BC, so around 10,000 years old. There is apparently somewhere else a city of the same period and perhaps a little older. They date them as cities in accord with their walls. No wall, no city, but only settlements.

Upon emerging from the visit we saw 'Elisha's Spring' where the prophet made sweet at the request of the locals their water which had turned bitter or salty. We had lunch in the restaurant there and then our Guide and Driver took us to see 'Zacchaeus' Tree' in the heart of Jericho, a tree of some 300 years or so, but since Sycamores life up to 500 years, it is quite possible that this tree is an offshoot of an offshoot of an original tree from Jesus' day, and perhaps the very one that the tax collector climbed in order to catch a glimpse of Jesus as He went by....

Then we drove to Nazareth by a road I had never traveled before through farm country. I had been at the Church of the Annunciation 10 days earlier, but was glad to again take the time to walk through the church, contemplate, and pray. I stayed with Fr Paul while the others went down to 'Mary's House'.

At Cana I suggested to Fr Paul that he might like to renew the marriage vows of the two couples we had with us. Our Baptist couple declined, after all Marriage is not a sacrament in their tradition, but Dorothy and Pat were delighted. I ran ahead to the Sacristy where the Sister recognized me and gladly handed me the text Fr Paul would need and informed me there was another group scheduled to celebrate Mass within 20 minutes or so. It was providential we had the time and Fr Paul led us in a lovely prayer Liturgy and renewed Dorothy and Pat in their Marriage vows and blessed them. It was a lovely moment for the whole group as Fr Paul found a way to make it inclusive for everyone... we have a number of widows among us.... When I returned the text to the Sacristy the Sister gave me a Certificate for them and I gave her an offering on their behalf.

We went to a Cana souvenir shop where a few bought some Cana wine, and we returned to our bus and then to the Royal Plaza Hotel in Tiberias, where we settled in and I resumed working on my blog journal of my previous pilgrimage and began working on this one. 

Day 06 - October 11, Friday

As I recall this day, we began at the Mount of the Beatitudes... as our pilgrimas explored Fr Paul and I entered the Sacristy and with Foteh clarified the arrangements the Sister was offering us. She brought us outside on the porch or portico that encircled that beautiful building, and we set up a makeshift altar there on the right side as one approaches the front entrance. Fr Paul and I stood and sat with our backs to the wall and looking out towards the countryside on the west of the church. Our pilgrims stood and sat in a semicircle on the outside of the portico looking towards us and the altar and the wall.

I felt content to be there, concelebrating with Fr Paul, and just contemplating the place and the fact that Jesus had been there many times with his apostles and disciples, including the times He multiplied the loaves, and then the loaves and fishes. We used the music sheet I had requested at the hotel and sang a few verses of "Gift of Finest Wheat".

As we went to Tabgha and then to the Chapel of the Primacy of Peter, remembering I had been there 10 days earlier with memorable experiences, I tried to attend to Fr Paul and the others... yet feeling in a way redundant... so  Itried to just be and 'absorb the atmosphere' as it were and pay attention within. As we walked out along the lovely tree lined avenue, listening to the birds, a pilgrim seemed to open to me and walk with me. At first I tried to remain isolated in my solitude, but as  I realized what he was doing and opened to him in turn he shared his faith with me... we had a good connection.



Day 07 - October 12, Saturday

Today we put our packed bags outside our rooms at 7:00 am because after breakfast we were leaving the Royal Plaza Hotel in Tiberias. We drove out to Haifa where some of us got out to stretch our legs and take pictures of the World Heritage Site Ba'hai Gardens. From here we went up to a peak of Mount Carmel to the Stella Maris Church and Carmelite Convent. Here we celebrated Mass in what must have been a Carmelite oratory for women religious because there were frescoes on either side high above the eye line depicting various Carmelite women saints including St Theresa of Avila....

After Mass I lingered in a few of the oratories and chapels, taking pictures and praying, while our other pilgrims did the same and also went outside to take photos from the panoramic view point above the City of Haifa.... From here we drove to Caesarea Maritime, where we explored, saw a film of the history of the place - from the deep sea harbor built by Herod the Great through its repeated damage by earthquakes to its present public use -  and walked around.

Our Driver Youssef took us on a bus tour of Yafo - Jaffa, or Joppa as it was known in Paul's day - and on this day we had the opportunity to remember how Paul was imprisoned here and was in prison here for a year or more, and how Peter was given a vision of non-Kosher meats that the Lord told him to eat, preparing him for the outgrowth of the Church to all the pagan nations. the Lord then told in another vision the pagan Cornelius to send for Peter in Joppa and have him come to baptize him and his household.

We were then taken to a local eatery where we finally had the opportunity to enjoy some tender grilled lamb, as well as beef and chicken, with the usual Middle East salads galore, while a few of our ladies declined and walked around downtown here and enjoyed instead an ice cream....

After the satisfaction of this meal, we stood around and chatted as we awaited Youssef and our bus, delayed by the heavy Saturday traffic, and then he drove us to our Tel-Aviv Marina Hotel, where we have time to rest before supper and an early night, because our wake up call will be at 2:15 am for a 2:15 departure on our bus in view of our 7:00 am flight to Athens.

...to be continued....

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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News from the Holy Land

Will democracy survive Islam?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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There are many people today wondering whether democracy will survive Islam. Check out this report made in June 2012 by CBN News (Christian Broadcasting Network) on the situation of democracy in Belgium. It begs the question why governments don't say or do anything to defend our democratic freedoms, the very freedoms radical Muslims employ to undermine western democracy in their conviction and dedication to win the entire planet Earth for Islam. Others ask why the Roman Catholic Church doesn't take a stronger position, especially Catholics from countries where the majority Muslim society persecutes them.

Muslims are right about one thing, that western society has become decadent, where people are free to resort to all manner of public indecency while at the same time eroding and taking away the freedom of religious belief, practice, and public manifestation of faith, and where even crucifixes are being removed because they are offensive to those who find Christian morality offensive.

The Crucifix depicts a man who is alone, abandoned, condemned, tortured, and dying, and yet whose dying words were "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." The selfless love depicted in Jesus on the Cross is indeed offensive to all those who want full freedom to exploit others, to behave without any regard for morality or respect for others, to trample the rights of others simply because one can, one has the power, influence, resources, and opportunity to do so, and let all those who cannot defend themselves be damned.

Why is God allowing Islam to spread into Western Civilization and undermine it from within? Perhaps it is as it was in the Old Testament or in the Jewish Scriptures when God allowed the Philistines to put Israel to the test because he had turned away from God. It was out of love that God put Israel to the test again and again. Perhaps in a similar way God has allowed Islam to grow and thrive and put the West to the test, to see whether we are willing to cling to our faith in God and obey his will even in the face of opposition, harassment, and persecution.

In the face of it all, can we find even a small part within us that is willing to accept and host the divine grace, the Presence of the divine Persons within us and bring us, like Jesus, to sincerely pray for our persecutors, to truly desire their good, and to ask God to "forgive them, for they know not what they do"? Only in this way can we give glory to God and increase his "reputation" in the world. Otherwise, we will continue to manifest the convictions, motives, and behaviors of Christians as totally depraved....

aborting our young, pursuing and defending unadulterated greed as the only foundation of our societies, continuing to exploit the peoples of the Earth and their nations for our advantage, profit, and "interests"... manipulating others to do our bidding, eliminating all those that oppose us, and basically taking the place of God as though we were gods ourselves, calling the shots and determining the destinies of others....

If we continue on this path, then we are all in for a very rude awakening.... Otherwise, we must do all we can to hold our leaders accountable.... The last time that democratic leaders showed moral courage and conviction was when it was evident that the majority or more of the citizens were themselves people of moral and religious conviction. Since then, we have all "lain down" and allowed only the "dissenters" to hog the microphone, to set the trends, and to intimidate us into submission, afraid to give witness to our own convictions and faith by threatening to brand us as enemies of democratic freedom should we show we believe anything that could be seen to oppose their own choices, convictions, or lifestyles.

We have all but become like the people of 1930's Germany who became afraid to "speak up" against what Hitler and his "brown shirts" were doing to Jews, the handicapped, and all and any who were deemed to be misfits or inconvenient to the "new order".

For a critique of Islam in its contempt for Christianity and Judaism and why majority Muslim societies persecute Christians and Jews, see "Islam Exposed: the Crescent in Light of the Cross" by Catholic Christian evangelist Tim Staples.

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Violence in quiet Scarborough : We are all responsible

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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It is a sick feeling of helplessness that comes over us each time such a tragedy occurs and life is lost, wounds and pain are endured, and our "social contract" is bruised or broken.... Like many perhaps, what really bothers me is how as people with responsibility, public office, or civic or neighborly sense, we are inclined to try to find satisfaction in some resolution of the hurt and damage and / or in finding and prosecuting and eventually punishing those who are "responsible" i.e. the perpetrators. All we ever get to do is "play catchup" but for all our efforts we don't get out of the "victimized" category, not unless we adopt a different outlook.

The so-called "perpetrators" for whatever limited awareness, conscience, and responsibility they probably do have for what they have done, are far from the only ones responsible for such tragedies. In a sense, we are all responsible for the world in which we live, for the conditions of the society in which we try to thrive, and for the atmosphere in which we live, day in and day out.

We cannot be unaffected by the rugged individualism of American society, where those in trouble are generally considered responsible for their state, just as those who are successful are inclined to attribute to themselves and their own efforts all their success, with of course some show of humility and gratitude to benefactors, as most Oscar winners try to do. Still, as Canadians, we do have, I believe, a more advanced sense of cohesiveness and social awareness and collective responsibility. There are plenty among us who are enthralled with the made in USA brand of individual responsibility, but then there are also the altruists who brought us Medicare and the other social programs that make our society so much safer and humane.

I've just finished reading and taking notes from a book which I believe is most pertinent to this most recent Metro Toronto and Canadian tragedy because in it she tries to address the suffering and pain of the children and youth themselves who are identified as misbehaving. She adopts a rather rare stance, that of the children and youth themselves, who in many ways are trying to display their protest of the life we are making or failing to make for them.

Mary Eberstadt published Home-Alone America in 2004 with Sentinel, by the Penguin Group. in which the author goes to that place none of us really wants to go, to some fundamental causes of all this social upheaval touching first and foremost our youth and our children. (See also The Mothers' Movement for a reaction from a mother posted on a site that reports for mothers and others who think about social change. She disagrees with the author and makes the point that these are complex issues.)

Mary reveals her thesis in the subtitle: The Hidden Toll of Day Care, Behavioral Drugs, and Other Parent Substitutes. Thankfully, she is not one of those rabidly opinionated extremists out to condemn single parents and such public services as day care, but rather, she makes an appeal to all of us as a whole society to take back what we seem to have surrendered, without realizing it, namely, collective responsibility for the choices we have made or have had to make in recent decades that have brought us collectively to a situation where our new generations of children and youth are more parent-deprived than we or our parents' generations were.

I like the way she tries to give voice to these millions of children and youth of ours who for all their pain and suffering remain voiceless if only for the simple reason that we the adult generation have a lot invested in all that we have attained - unprecedented freedom to work, earn, save, spend, and live - and are unwilling or even afraid to consider what might be some consequences of these choices.

She very sensitively grants that many parents, especially single parents and poorer parents, really haven't had much choice but to be less present to their children because of their need to work, sometimes at multiple jobs, and that in the absence of extended family, single mothers in particular have had no choice but to rely on day care and other similar public services to mind their children while they work.

In the end, Mary makes an appeal to all of us to do all that we can to increase the presence of related adults most of all, but also of other caring and responsible adults, in the lives of our children and youth; so that they may be guided by us and disciplined as needed so that they eat more balanced meals, have supervision to help them avoid precocious sex and exposure to deadly STD's, and experience enough personal presence and caring to have no need to resort to the use of guns or violence.

She is particularly harsh though on public and medical officials who do all they can to put the blame for the troubles of children and youth on the children and youth themselves, looking for exotic causal explanations in brain deficiencies, chemical imbalances, psychological disorders, and so on, anything to avoid examining the environments in which our children and youth grow up... for fear of making parents and families uncomfortable and then angry with those who go there.

We still know so little about how - from the moment of conception onwards - the total environment impacts on a child that this reality, which is as close to the "front lines" as one can get; that it deserves, I believe, all of the attention and care that we can muster, again, not to assign any blame to parents especially, but rather, in the public interest, to put our shoulders together and have a good look at how much children and youth need to have close at hand, attentive, and caring for them first of all their related adults, and then in addition all the caring and responsible adults they can muster - beginning with extended family - and augmented by church and community volunteers and workers, all duly screened as much as possible of course.

We have taken decades, even generations, to slowly and incrementally by so many little decisions get to where we are now, we who number in the hundreds of millions in the Western world, with the unaccounted toll on our new generations; so we cannot expect any public agencies to unravel or resolve our situations for us. Each family is different, as each couple is unique and each child is unique and each home life is unique. However, there are enough signs and consistencies for us to intuit where we need to begin and what we can do to help one another, as neighbors, and as concerned citizens.

I applaud the Mothers' Movement, and anyone who can make good use of the means at their disposal to raise the level of public awareness to the real battleground, that of the home; so that by supporting one another - especially those with more freedom and means towards those with less - so that between us and with our collective efforts these children and young people can know that they are wanted, loved, and cared for, and that with their help we can all work together to help improve their lives and with our encouragement they can also help one another.

I hope these thoughts are helpful, and perhaps you the reader may find it opportune to share them with those whom they may encourage, and perhaps spark some creative thinking and collective cooperation for the improvement of the lives of suffering children and youth. No human being sets out in life thinking "I think I want to be violent when I grow up." The Creator doesn't make or evolve such defective creatures. They are the work of our hands, whether we want to face that or not, and by "our hands" I don't mean the parents alone, but all of us who contribute to the environment and life conditions in which all parents find themselves.

We are all, in truth, our brothers' and sisters' keepers. Those of us who have more access to the goods of the Earth intended by the Creator for all have more responsibility for their equitable distribution. Those of us who have been gifted with a "better nesting environment" from the moment of our conception have a responsibility to put ourselves at the service of those who have suffered a "less hospitable nesting environment". If we do not and choose rather to hoard our advantages for ourselves cannot avoid having the consequences of our decision find its way to our doorstep. Yes, parents too have their share of responsibility for the choices they make, but then, we all do.

Peace to you....

Gilles Surprenant

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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PRAYER - Fr Ron Rolheiser on Prayer - 4 part series

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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Dear Reader, Merry Christmas! 

Yes, Christmas Eve and Day are past, and today we come to the end of the Octave of Christmas with the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, but we are still in the heart of the Christmas Season as we celebrate, ponder, and contemplate deeper each day into the Mystery of our God who has come among us in the Person of the Divine Son. 

He is now and forever Jesus Christ, Son of Mary, Jewish man of Nazareth and Galilee, but also our Messiah, our Lord, King of Kings as so beautifully expressed by Haendel in his "Messiah" overture sung so often all over the world at this time of year. 

So it is still time to wish you and your family, friends, work and school colleagues, neighbors, and even enemies, a Merry Christmas, and of course a Happy, Healthy, and Holy New Year 2012! 

 I am pleased to offer you the gift of a link to a wonderful 4-part reflection by Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI, columnist and speaker, on prayer, which is so essential to our growth in faith and in a living and lively relationship with the Living God through Jesus and in the Holy| Spirit. 

2011-11-28 | Prayer as Seeking Depth

2011-12-04 | Praying So As Not To Lose Heart

2011-12-11 | Prayer as Seeking God's Guidance

2011-12-18 | Praying So As To See God's Glory Inside Of Humanity 

As in all things given or offered to us by Jesus, it is in the actual doing of it that we can and do and will go on experiencing the benefit and the blessing. It is not enough to hear and agree, we must pass into action and practice what we have heard, not being dismayed by our emotional or intellectual impressions of inadequacy, but being content to be poor in the presence of our God. 

It is God who is infinitely rich and who loves nothing more than to bestow upon us his riches and even his own self, which the Father does in offering us his Son Jesus again and again in his Living and inspired Word and in the Holy Eucharist, the gift of himself as food for our soul, food for the journey.... 

May you and your loved ones accept to ever dwell in the Love, Peace, and Joy which are the life of the Holy Trinity from all eternity, and into which they are drawing us, if only we continue to humbly give them our consent, as did Mary when she responded "Let it be done to me according to your word!" to the Angel Gabriel's message of proposal from Almighty God....              Fr Gilles

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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America is out of control - its citizenry has been betrayed and given up to the "sharks" - money has substituted human life as the highest value

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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So much is being made in the media of the wrangling by American legislators about their need to raise their debt ceiling that it is difficult to avoid making some comments and observations. It appears that America - the U.S.A., the United States of America - long deemed a great nation has become a nation careening out of control and destined for a crash, a very damaging collision with unchanging realities that seems unavoidable if they continue on their present course. 

It could be said that the motto of the USA or of their people is "America is the land of opportunity, the land of freedom for all where anything is possible." In their culture, in their beliefs, in their practices, and in their institutions this has come to be expressed in the avoidance of controls and restraints in order to avoid limiting those freedoms and opportunities. 

A corollary belief is that Americans can accomplish anything they set their mind to do; therefore, those who do not succeed fail to succeed because of their own lack of imagination, creativity, will, discipline, or effort. It follows then, according to this generalized line of thinking, that all those who have failed, who are without work, who have lost their homes, who have lost their health, who are down and out or homeless, that is, all those who do not enjoy the full realization of the American Dream, are in that state by their own fault and only by their own fault. 

That is why American culture and politics generally consider a country like Canada to be a socialist state, a short step from the Communist or Marxist states. In recent discussions about their Medicare system Americans resisted extending coverage to every citizen in the USA. There continue to be in the USA what are called working poor, those citizens and families that work one, two, even three jobs but are barely able to sustain themselves, cannot afford medical insurance, and are one hospital visit away from losing their home and being on the street. 

Representatives of their association told me personally in the Fall of 2004 that there were at that time in the USA 75 million working poor, that's 75,000,000 Americans without medical coverage. I don't fully understand their system, but it seems that those who are actually poor and reliant on government welfare payments are eligible for Medicare support if they are hospitalized, but the working poor earn too much to be eligible for those benefits. 

The only way working people can have medical coverage is by buying medical insurance. Not only that, but those on welfare and the working poor generally seem to have to resort to what we could call "B" hospitals - as in "B" movies - hospitals that may still come under the public system or hospitals founded and still managed by what are considered neither public nor private institutions such as the Catholic Church or other Christian churches, where funding may not be as abundant, where there may not be found all the latest in medical technologies and practices, where the best medical practitioners may not normally be found. 

Since the privatization of hospitals and medical institutions in the USA the costs have increased well out of reach of ordinary citizens. Medical procedures and any hospitalizations now cost more than what ordinary people earn in a year or more. The costs have been aggravated by unrestrained technological developments and further aggravated by unrestrained exploitation by the legal system. There seems to exist in the USA what we could call "perfect storm" conditions that came into being when unrestrained exploitation of the legal system by greedy lawyers and legal firms converged with unrestrained increases in investments in advanced medical technologies and unrestrained increases in medical profession salaries - which in turn may have been exacerbated by unrestrained increases in the salaries of athletes and entertainers - and unrestrained exploitation of the public by some medical insurance companies, who in their turn exploited with their money and power the legal system in order to refuse and wear down people who had rightful claims to medical coverage. 

I would hope and do believe there are medical insurance companies out there that tend to honor their policies and do compensate claimants and avoid the shameful practices of putting them through the ringer and exploiting them in their pain and vulnerability in order to dissuade them from following through on their claim or in the hope that they may die and in that way put an end to their claim. 

The perfect storm of which I speak then is the convergence of greed, lack of regard for justice, and the lack of moral restraints in the legal profession and its institutions - both public and private - in the medical profession and medical institutions - both public and private - in government institutions, and finally in citizens themselves. 

The sharks are circling out there, and in the USA if you look at someone the wrong way there may be a lawyer out there capable of convincing that person to sue you. If that other is crazy enough, or sufficiently without principle, and has enough money, they could sue you and destroy you by wearing you down in the courts; which seem no longer able to distinguish true justice from frivolous action or unjust exploitation of a system that has lost its ability to recognize or render true justice. 

That is a perfect storm, and if you're in the wrong place and the wrong time and a shark bites you, or if you lose your job and have a hard time finding another, or if you or a family member gets sick, has a baby or an accident and is hospitalized, you can find yourself with a debt you can never repay or even find yourself losing your home. 

A whole new private enterprise has cropped up in infomercials whereby they show you how to buy up the homes of citizens temporarily defaulting on mortgage payments - often because they are out of work or have a medical bill - so there are "fire sales" on peoples' homes in America, the land of opportunity for sharks. 

In this article, I contend that the USA is a nation out of control. You will find the link at the title a site that reports the actual philosophy of society and of governance of the "founding fathers" who drafted the Constitution of the United States of America. Their consensus was that only faith in God and moral restraint shown by religious people could control the human flaws and passions and that the constitution was intended for such morally virtuous citizens. 

The USA as a nation is now out of control because as a nation with its public and government institutions it has distanced itself from the mindset and moral outlook of its founding fathers. As a result America in its government and public institutions and many of its own citizenry is incapable of living out of its own constitution. 

Don't get me wrong, there are many wonderful Americans, people of character and virtue, people of faith and responsible for themselves, their families, their neighborhood, and their work. Sadly, the government and public institutions, and much of commerce and industry, and most if not all of their multinational and other large corporations are working against their own citizens. 

The founding fathers enshrined in the Constitution document their values with the intention that their descendants would allow themselves to be guided by it to go on living the life of freedom and moral restraint they were setting up for themselves and their families and all the citizens who joined them in the founding of their new nation. 

The primary good was the welfare of every citizen, to be achieved through their own efforts and with the mutual support they were committed to offer each other as they had done in resisting the British. That primary good has been replaced over time by the profit principle. It is now unrestrained greed that governs the USA. This has become obvious from the countless reports over the past few decades. 

As a nation, the USA refuses to admit that people can come into hard times, that it is possible for thrifty and hardworking citizens to get sick, to have accidents, to lose their jobs, and to need public assistance. Such people are considered a drain on public resources and on those who are healthy, wealthy, influential, and successful. They are considered unworthy of help. 

That the USA considers itself the land of opportunity in actual fact means that it is a land of opportunity for various species of shark. Those who inherit fortunes or influence, those who by their own effort and luck achieve positions of fortune and influence, who are not hindered by moral considerations and have the ability to exploit the system - all of these and others like them - are those who have opportunity because it doesn't matter how many they trample in their reckless pursuit of success and profit. 

At the time of the founding fathers, provisions were made for the state to seize and punish those who showed manifest lack of moral restraint and caused harm to others in their quest for success and profit. However, over time, a complex system of laws and legal practice have seen develop a whole culture of legalism that has little or nothing to do with justice or morality. Those who have the influence, the money, and other means and opportunity to exploit even the legal system can, and money appears for the most part able to wear out and crush the ordinary citizen. 

Money and influence have all but strangled the legislative and well as the judiciary systems. Lobbyists are known to be able to steer the outcome of legislation as well as legal outcomes, reports show that money is what actually determines election outcomes, and the government has all but lost its ability to govern, as it represents interests more often than its own citizens. Greed unhindered by moral or other restraints is also in evidence throughout American and around the globe at the hands of American multinational and other large corporations and sadly also smaller private untraded companies. 

The profit principle has trumped all other considerations for the most part: the good of the worker, the value of marriage and family, the value of building local neighborhoods and living environments - none of it matters - which is blind greed careening out of control. 

It is possible to merge new technologies with commerce in the development of living neighborhoods and in the establishment of cottage industry but the citizens must make those choices and support them. Too often large financial interests establish cut price businesses that drive small businesses to closure because the population supports them and buy there, endlessly pursuing discounts, and people just don't seem to realize there are costs. 

You can save by purchasing at a cut price outlet, but the cost is the loss of local business and in time of your neighborhood, your living environment. America is increasingly becoming a land with devastated inner city cores, sterile suburbs, and rural ghost towns as small businesses crash, victims of large profit driven cut price outlets that have little consideration for their own workforce. 

America is beginning to look like the third world, with the gap between rich and poor widening, relentless impoverishment, erosion, and diminishment of the affluent middle class, increasing numbers of wealthy (many of whom have been able to prosper unhindered be consideration for those they in effect exploit), and increasing numbers of the working poor, and in the end, of the helpless poor on welfare or worse, on the street. That's the new class of poor, those who no longer even have a home or address and hence are ineligible for welfare, and find themselves homeless. 

Americans who continue to live the kind of life intended by their founding fathers, a life of character and virtue, of faith and morality, are still able to experience the fruits and benefits of such a life, but they must be on their guard against the innumerable sharks out there. They can do their best to influence their government and public institutions for good, but realize they will often experience defeat at the hands of those bodies and individuals governed exclusively by profit. Even they can find themselves out of work, on welfare, or even on the street, if they find themselves in the kinds of conditions that put Job in total misery. 

This is for them an extreme test of faith, to continue relying on God, trying to help themselves, turning to others for help, and trusting that in the end the Lord will rescue them. The massive scale of the American economy and the trappings of their government and public institutions has allowed the USA to maintain what has increasingly become a fiction of success, a travesty, an illusion. Their public debt has become so huge that they appear unable to pay it down. There is no manifest public will to even acknowledge the debt, let alone pay it down. The dominant concern at present seems to be to continue increasing spending and the debt without any consideration for the future. 

If the government of the USA is not yet financially bankrupt, morally it is. It no longer reflects the character, morality, and virtue of its founding fathers, nor do many American citizens, businesses, corporations, and countless self-interest and lobby groups. Not until responsibilities receive equal measure with rights will this situation ever change. 

If America continues on this course, it is only a question of time until they collide with undeniable reality. A nation unconcerned about its weaker and more defenseless citizens is not worthy of its founding fathers. This remains true even if we don't mention the "selective genocide" of abortion. Only God can help them now, but they must first overcome those adhering to the profit principle who have all but succeeded in banning God from public life and discourse, and return to the character, values, morality, restraint, and faith of the founding fathers.

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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To genuflect and bow or not to genuflect and bow

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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The Sacred Liturgy – Reverent Gestures toward the Holy Eucharist

In various times and places it is said that the current standard for Liturgy would have minimal distractions during the Mass: hence no genuflections, crossings, etc. The context for this statement would have been the changes brought about in the Liturgy by Vatican II and the subsequent reforms in the Liturgy. In the Mass celebrated since Trent, the priest made many crosses over the bread and wine, crossing also himself, and so on. 

The truth is that the Latin Rite then was closer to the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic rites, which have always made a point of making the Blessed Trinity visible throughout the Divine Liturgy. It is true that since Vatican II our Church did simplify the Liturgy, and what the priests and deacons are to do is spelled out in the relevant rituals and accompanying documents. 

Another truth is that by simplifying the Liturgy and reducing the elements that spoke of the august Mystery of God present among us, we have widened the gap with the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy and hence with those sisters and brothers, making their Liturgy even stranger and more incomprehensible intellectually. But the simple truth is that whenever we attend one of their Divine Liturgies, the visuals are so eloquent and the accompanying words so significant that it takes a hard heart or an extreme intellectual not to be moved to tears.

The fundamental principle governing the Roman Sacred Liturgy is the full and distinctive participation of all the members of the Body of Christ, each with his or her own particular part, without infringing on the parts of others; so that the variety, multiplicity, and distinctiveness of the roles during the Sacred Liturgy reflect the variety, multiplicity and distinctiveness of the members of the Body of Christ. It is in truth the Risen Christ Jesus who makes himself visible, speaking, and acting in varying degrees in each and every member of the sacred assembly.

You may or may not know this, dear Reader, but there are currents in the Church invoking Vatican II in order to promote agendas that are actually the opposite of the reform of the Liturgy as it has taken place, by people who are frustrated that the reforms did not go far enough, that is, did not incorporate changes they favor. These tendencies would reduce our Liturgy to something much closer to the sterile evangelistic worship service that is full of words and almost devoid of symbols and visuals as has been the case in many churches of the "Reform" over the past five centuries. 

For example, Bishop De Roo of Victoria BC, now retired, almost forbade people kneeling at any time during the Mass, and would refuse permission for new churches to include kneelers in them, except when there was intense pressure of devotion from ethnic communities, but even for them he only allowed kneelers for pews in the first few rows. I know this from good friends who have lived in that diocese since the late 1980's or early 1990's. That is an example of open rebellion, which is not too strong a term, given that the proper authority to interpret Vatican documents on the Liturgy belongs to the national episcopal conferences, never to individual bishops, and certainly not to individual priests, and even then, only a few aspects are up to the bishops. 

The ritual itself is not open to interpretation or changes except by the proper authorities at the Vatican. Specifically about kneeling or genuflecting, the ritual of the Mass states in red ink (rubrics) when the priest genuflects, that is, right after the consecration of the bread into the Body of Christ, and again, after the consecration of the wine into the Blood of Christ, and finally, just before presenting the Body of Christ for Holy Communion to the assembly. That is the proper protocol specifically spelled out in the ritual for the Holy Eucharist. 

There is nothing in the ritual itself about going to the Tabernacle, but this is not because nothing should be done but rather because it is considered so obvious that it need not be spelled out everywhere. What is spelled out is that those approaching or leaving the sanctuary at the beginning and end of Mass should genuflect at or towards the Tabernacle, depending on where it is situated; the only exception being in a large church such as St Peter's in Rome, where the Reserve of the Blessed Sacrament is nowhere in the church but deep in a side chapel beyond the pillars on the right side. Hence, the Real Presence is nowhere to be seen; so no genuflection. 

Also, anyone passing by the Tabernacle is to genuflect at all times; however, this is generally meant for outside the Liturgy, since people generally don't pass by the Tabernacle during Mass. In any church where there is much commotion near the Tabernacle, repeated genuflections would make no sense and actually distract from the Mass. Definitely no genuflections at Communion time when the focus in on Jesus as we approach and receive Him. Any who are specifically passing by even during the Mass could genuflect, as it is proper to bow to the Altar whenever crossing over the center aisle from one side to the other, as a sign of respect to Jesus who is the Priest, the Altar, and the Lamb of Sacrifice according to our Liturgy. In our Church where the Tabernacle is visible, unlike St Peter's, the genuflections at the beginning and end of Mass are considered standard practice, whether or not they have actually been practiced in recent history. 

The role of the pastor is to preserve and hand on the tradition and rituals, so if I have stood out like a sore thumb with these genuflections, it is not to be difficult or irk everyone or offend the pride of local tradition and practice, but all for the glory of the Lord and the growth in faith of the people. The Liturgy not only celebrates, it also teaches and forms. Anyone going to the Tabernacle during the Mass, usually before and after Holy Communion, opens the Tabernacle door, genuflects, takes out ciboria, closes the Tabernacle door, brings the ciboria to the Altar.... then after Holy Communion, returns with the ciboria to the Tabernacle, opens the door, replaces the ciboria inside, genuflects, and closes the door. 

These gestures are spelled out in the various rites related to the Holy Eucharist and generally contained in what is called the Roman Missal. In English until the Roman Missal comes out in Advent 2011 we only use what is called the Sacramentary, which is a partial extraction of whatever is needed from the Roman Missal for celebrating Mass in a Parish setting for all occasions. The Sacramentary spells out what priests and deacons do. Some of the details are not in the Sacramentary but only explained in detail in the General Introduction to the Roman Missal. 

The proper gestures when doing something at the Tabernacle are spelled out in the rite for Eucharistic Adoration, but are mostly taken for granted as standard practice and passed on. In a family, for example, when parents give specific task related instructions to their children, the fact that they omit reminding the children to say Please and Thank You does not annul those practices, because they are so common and obvious that they may be taken for granted. So it is with much that is traditional regarding the Liturgy and church Sanctuary. 

It is traditional practice, which expresses our faith in the True Presence of Jesus, that anytime we approach the Tabernacle to extract the Body of Christ in one or more ciboria, one genuflects after opening the door - acknowledging Jesus and adoring Him - and again just before closing the door after having returned one or more ciboria to be reserved. This practice both expresses and teaches our faith in Jesus truly present in his risen Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist and reserved in the Tabernacle. 

It is an abuse of the respect, reverence, and obedience we owe to the Lord to deliberately refuse this practice or teach others to ignore it. To do so opens the door to the erosion of the faith and attacks against the faith by beliefs, ideas, and practices in the culture and society in every time and place that militate against the Lord and his presence, word, and work or salvation in the world. There are those who would make the presence of Jesus in the whole assembly, with the Presider at the head, the exclusive point of focus, annulling any form of reverence for the Body and Blood of Christ either on the Altar or in the Tabernacle. 

Reality is not so monolithic, but multifaceted. It is no contradiction to have the Presider genuflect at the Altar during the Singing of the Lamb of God as he says the relevant priest's prayers before Holy Communion, and simultaneously for a deacon or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion genuflect upon opening the door to the Tabernacle. On the contrary, this merely makes visible the many facets of Jesus' presence, word, and action among us. None of this is open to interpretation or change, because no one but the bishops together with the Pope can make major changes, and the pertinent Congregation can give interpretations and publish duly designed and authorized reforms. 

What we mean by authority is not power to impose in the midst of conflicted views, but rather faith in Jesus' ongoing presence among us, and in particular his own will to speak and act through the sacrament of Holy Orders in the roles and persons of the Pope and bishops, who are after all successors to the Apostles to whom Jesus entrusted all his authority. In order to respect the full magnitude of Jesus' presence, word, and action among us, we must respect them all. That includes zealous attention to the rituals and other manifestations of our Church's traditions, the handing on of rituals, teachings, and practices of faith as handed on by our parents, teachers, catechists, and pastors, and as interpreted and corrected when necessary by the competent and pertinent authorities. 

This entire network is Jesus speaking, acting, and present among us. In view of the constant erosion factor from our culture, I'd love all of our collaborators at St Luke St-Luc to adopt with one mind and heart what I began over a year ago with regards to the Our Father sung in English, namely, regarding the 5 repetitions of Amen at the end and the related gestures. This is the only part that never made sense to me: the gesture for the 4th Amen is just a repetition of the 1st, i.e. a lifting up of the hands towards Heaven. It would make sense for the gesture accompanying the 4th Amen to point towards Jesus truly present in his Body and Blood on the Altar, which we are about to partake. 

1st Amen - hands lifted up side by side and arms fully extended towards the heavens = Amen to You O Blessed Trinity! 

2nd Amen - hands lowered to the horizontal and arms fully extended straight ahead, then fanning out on either side in a sweeping embrace and inclusion of of everyone = Amen to everyone here and in the world and all creatures in the universe! 

3rd Amen - hands lowered to the ground and arms fully extended on either side = Amen to your   presence in me, Lord! 

4th Amen - hands and arms fully extended towards Jesus on the Altar = Amen to You Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist! 5th Amen - hands folding and joining at the chest in the traditional prayerful gesture = Amen to your holy will in all things Lord!

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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