Slightly irreverent alternatively orthodox Catholic in search of contemplatives, sacred artists, and other interesting spiritual activists.
Joined Apr 2020
Steven
boosted
Did a dry-run live-streaming Mass today. Hoping to make Christmas Eve accessible for our parishioners who can't come in-person. Very cool, got some great feedback, but it's a really weird experience. It's hard to video and pray at the same time...
"At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will." -Thomas Merton
"Only when I let go
of what others say,
and listen to who
I truly am, do I make
room for the one me
You want me to be."
Taken from: " Meister Eckhart's BOOK OF THE HEART Meditations for the Restless Soul," by John M. Sweeny and Mark S. Burrows
“Thomas Merton expressed it well in his final lecture in Bangkok. In characteristically picturesque language he said that Christianity and Buddhism agree that the root of man’s problems is that his consciousness is all fouled up and he does not appreciate reality as it fully and really is; that the moment he looks at something, he begins to interpret it in ways that are prejudiced and predetermined to fit a certain wrong picture of the world, in which he exists as an individual ego at the centre of things. And Merton claimed that this experience of ourselves as absolutely autonomous individual egos is the source of all our problems. This was Merton’s final statement on a problem that greatly dominated the thinking of his last years. The separate ego cries out, “I will not serve”. In order to lose this illusion of a separate self and come to a realization of my true self in God, I must undergo a great transformation in consciousness — an inner revolution which is for the Christian a metanoia or change of heart.” From Being in Love: The Practice of Christian Prayer by William Johnston
The best training for iconographers on the Internet:
Meditations on Love 🐠
WHAT IS LOVE ASKING ME TO DO TODAY?
Steven
boosted
The four pillars of peace
Truth will build peace if every individual sincerely acknowledges not only his rights, but also his own duties towards others.
Justice will build peace if in practice everyone respects the rights of others and actually fulfils his duties towards them.
Love will build peace if people feel the needs of others as their own and share what they have with others, especially the values of mind and spirit which they possess.
Freedom will build peace and make it thrive if, in the choice of the means to that end, people act according to reason and assume responsibility for their own actions.
POPE JOHN PAUL II
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
1 JANUARY 2003
PACEM IN TERRIS:
A PERMANENT COMMITMENT
Steven
boosted
There are many severe (and sometimes frothing) critics of Pope Francis amongst “conservative” Catholics. Fr. Rolheiser offers a gentle explication of his (Francis’) ethos, and the universally healing and salvific possibility of the Church.
Steven
boosted
One of my favorite Merton quotes is :
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
-- Fr Thomas #Merton #OCSO #Trappist #Cistercian #monk #priest
One of my favorite Merton quotes is :
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
-- Fr Thomas #Merton #OCSO #Trappist #Cistercian #monk #priest
There are many severe (and sometimes frothing) critics of Pope Francis amongst “conservative” Catholics. Fr. Rolheiser offers a gentle explication of his (Francis’) ethos, and the universally healing and salvific possibility of the Church.
Steven
boosted
"Those who have more considerable capacity and strength for suffering, God purges more intensely and quickly. But those who are very weak ... their purgation is less intense and the temptations abated, and he frequently refreshes their sense to keep them from backsliding."
St. John of the Cross
Steven
boosted
“We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend upon material success . . . but on Jesus alone.”
~ Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
Steven
boosted
#GospelToday (Mk 6:17-20,24-29)
Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him.
...
She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the Baptist."
The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request, "I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist."
The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Steven
boosted
Good morning all,
Don't get pricked by anything or anybody today,,,
Steven
boosted
I just want to quietly live my life, feed my children, drink whiskey, and go to Mass
Slightly irreverent alternatively orthodox Catholic in search of contemplatives, sacred artists, and other interesting spiritual activists.
Joined Apr 2020
