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Then Jesus went into the temple of God...

The massacre at Archbishop Oscar Romero's funeral.

"If the world hates you, be sure that it hated me before it learned to hate you. If you belonged to the world, the world would know you for its own and love you; it is because you do not belong to the world, because I have singled you out from the midst of the world, that the world hates you. Do not forget what I said to you, No servant can be greater than his master. They will persecute you just as they have persecuted me; they will pay the same attention to your words as to mine. And they will treat you thus because you bear my name; they have no knowledge of him who sent me. If I had not come and given them my message, they would not have been in fault; as it is, their fault can find no excuse. To hate me is to hate my Father too. If I had not done what no one else ever did in their midst they would not have been in fault; as it is, they have hated, with open eyes, both me and my Father. And all this, in fulfilment of the saying which is written in their law, They hated me without cause." --John 15:18-25

If you watch our Pope Francis in this interview which I posted below, notice how he speaks about how Christ without the cross is not Christ. He does not speak simply with "conviction". He speaks with authority; and specifically, a certain un-budge-able fiery Latino authority that does not know the guile of the political correctness of the developed world. Someone else on some other combox somewhere I can't remember said that it must be something good that the president of Argentina "spits nails" when it comes to him. Indeed.

I don't know anything. And frankly I don't think those who do apparently know anything actually know anything. The people who want to be part of the cool club, talking about how they have "reservations" about our new Peter like they were V.I.P.s at the entrance of some fancy restaurant and the host couldn't seem to find their names on the list - yeah, they don't have a clue.

But that's alright. None of us has a clue. It's good then that we have a Pope, a Leader.

I have this feeling, in my bones as it were, that if we don't wake our sleepy heads up and be docile to what our Shepherd is doing now, we are going to find it extremely hard to do so later on - to the point that many will want to jump ship. Some may even try a mutiny.

"They will persecute you just as they have persecuted me..."

Isn't it strange how that is actually comforting? Christ said not to worry for He had already conquered the world. The world has not gained any other position over that which it had since being conquered by Christ. Christ the King let Himself be slain; the strong man's house has already been plundered.

The Church is not a club for the cool or the knowledgeable or any kind of club for anyone. She is always being reborn. God is always new. And that is why fundamentally the Church does not change.

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Sergei

I still love Arvo Pärt, but of late it's been all Rachmaninoff.









Horowitz...


 


he always has that jolie laide way, doesn't he? Rachmaninoff regarded him as the one person who could play his piano concerto no. 3 the way he most envisioned it.









Time-Stamped to start at no. 7:



 



How does one put Rachmaninoff? One film that I do not like very much refers to him as "elephantine". Yes, certainly. But not quite. That's more a quantitative adjective rather than one which gets across character or personality. I would say Rachmaninoff is magnanimous. So much so that he invites and surrounds.

Large mind, large heart, and large hands. Very large hands.

His etudes, yes. His sonatas, yes. His piano concertos, yes. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, yes. But you know, I love his three symphonies the most, I think. Probably No. 2. Or No. 3. No, wait, No. 2.




 

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Rock Solid

This is an interview with then-Cardinal Bergoglio from six months ago.

It's pretty much a must-watch.








Found at Ora Pro Nobis

Photo Portrait

"It is good for us at certain times that ourselves should be like a mere window--as clear, as luminous, and as invisible." --G.K. Chesterton, A Defense of Humility

For the confused

"Poor" has its meaning in relation to God, not in relation to "rich".

It means this: that state which allows for the greatest extent graces possible that God wishes to give, filled to the brim and shaken down. Gifts beyond our imagining. Christ Himself - the way, the truth and the life.

This is the poorness of the Church that is present in even the most ornate and rich liturgy.

The world has infested the Church together with the prince of the world, Satan. She has been robbed of her poverty. Her members are puffed up and stiff-necked and altogether on a lost path.

The TLM raises us to the angelic spheres does it? And apparently afterwards, if we were to take the example of certain people, it casts you into the hell-pits of bitterness, sarcasm and calumny towards a newly-elected Pope and the sowing of doubt and division and scandal in the minds of innumerable readers concerning the highest ecclisial members. Mortal sin?

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Just because...

Just because I love the picture.

Hat tip: Terry

The more I read about him the more my thoughts hearken to Servant of God Oscar Romero (not the Romero of the shallow political revolutionary picture often given, but the real Romero). And my thoughts say: maybe what Romero did in El Salvador this Pope will do on a global scale. That is to say, I honestly think our new Pope is a hidden firebrand. But also more than that; much, much more.

More, because he is poor.

The cleansing of the church and continuation of the hermeneutic of the church will be in union with the drawing down of the ire of the world upon it.

They kind of even have a similar sort of look in their faces. At least to me they do.

"...Not any and every priest has been persecuted, not any and every institution has been attacked. That part of the church has been attacked and persecuted that put itself on the side of the people and went to the people's defense. Here again we find the same key to understanding the persecution of the church: the poor." --Archbishop Oscar Romero, Servant of God

The Church does not merely identify with the poor, but finds her identity in and through the poor. And when that happens...heads up. Persecution comes.

Anyhow, a mere five days after his inauguration will be the 33rd anniversary of the assassination (perhaps martyrdom) of Oscar Romero.

Also, is the fact that he has one lung a sign that he will bring together the two "lungs" (JPII) of the Church so that they breathe as one?

Probably.

I mean that seriously, too.

Surprised by joy: I'm awed and the joy wells up of its own accord. And I'm surprised at my surprise that Christ would treat with His Church as though she really was His Church in giving to us this new Pope, and it's like I've never truly seen the Bride of Christ - that is, as Christ sees Her. But now a strong glimmer of that sight has been given, and I want it to grow.

The Sense of Sin

The first touching point of God's revelation of His love in Jesus Christ is found in the absolute and uncompromising realization of the horror of the least sin in our lives. If the coming of Christ into this world means the forgiveness of sins absolutely, then it must mean that the least sin becomes all the worse for us; for our salvation is not a lessening of sin, but its total removal. That must of necessity mean that the least taint is great indeed, and that a semblance of the lives we are to lead can be found in St. Dominic Savio's motto: "Death before sin."

What results from that state is the adventure of life. This is life, and life in abundance.

If you think this is wrong then you have not read or understood the sermon on the mount.

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For Fun Painting

Title: Two Pears

Medium: Oil on canvas board

Size: 8 in. x 4 1/2 in.

Forest painting

Title: Thasis

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 16 in. x 12 in.